The Roaming Rat

One cool, summer day, my mom, baby brother, my grandmother, and I were taking an evening stroll. Little boys were racing against each other on their bikes, making me realize I was forgetting something.  Before we started walking, I quickly asked my mom, “Amma, can you get my bike?” My mom turned around to look at me and responded, “Why not?” She told my grandmother to stay there with my baby brother, who was snoozing in his stroller. My grandmother nodded as my mom and I started walking towards the garage door. My mom took the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. As the door opened, my nose filled with the smell of detergent. I immediately pinched my nose in disgust as well as gestured to my mom to hurry up.  As my mom kicked my bike’s stand up, I heard a shuffling sound behind the shelf. “Amma,” I whispered with a sudden shake of fear. My mom heard it, too. We both gasped as the creature revealed itself, its two front teeth stained yellow, its paw filled with wheat, its two yellow eyes staring right back at us, its sinister smile haunting us in our nightmares; it was a rat.

      We ran out of the garage and my mom slammed the door, locked it, and no one went there for good.

***

   “A rat?” my dad asked with a frown on his face. “Are you sure?” 

    “Yes, Daddy! I’m sure! I saw it with my own two eyes!” I said, starting to get irritated with the disbelief in my dad’s voice. “Is that true, Swetha?” he asked my mom, who was washing the dishes in the kitchen. “It’s true, Appu!” my mom responded, wiping her hands on a towel. “Alright!” my dad finally agreed, “Let me tell you only one thing; I’m not getting the rat out of the garage!” All of us laughed, including my brother, who was howling for someone to carry him, which my dad did. 

        From that day onwards, no one in my family dared to face the rat.

A few weeks later… 

Knock, knock. “Aditi, open the door for Sai Anna!” my mom called. “Okay, Amma!” I yelled back for my mom to hear. I switched on the TV for my brother to watch as I went to open the door. Click, click. I unlocked the door quickly before my brother was going to cry again. I opened the door to see my cousin brother. I said, “Hi Anna,” My cousin brother pushed his glasses up and replied, “Hello!” He pushed his suitcases into the living room and put them down to pick up my brother, who happily accepted to come into his hands. As my dad entered the room, he told my cousin brother all about the rat that was renting the garage. After listening to the story, my cousin brother laughed. “You all are scared to go into the garage because of a rat?! I can exterminate the rat, just take me to the garage and I’d be pleased to do so.” Hence, the days went past until the day my cousin brother was going to leave our house and go back to his university. 

      It was 6 o’ clock in the evening and my dad and cousin brother were getting ready to exterminate the rat. I, on the other hand, was playing Legos with my friend, Kanishka. As we both were creating a room for one of the characters, my dad opened the door and said, “Aditi, we’re going to the garage to take out the rat, do you girls want to come?” Kanishka started rubbing her hands together sinisterly. “Now I have got to see this.”

   We all headed down to the garage and my dad unlocked the door. My cousin headed in with my dad, but Kanishka and I decided to stay out. As we both started talking, my dad yelled, “Aditi, the rat’s in this box it seems!” A box dropped right before my feet and I gave a big jump back with a loud scream, including Kanishka’s shrieks. As Kanishka and I were taking breaths for our shock, my dad and cousin brother were laughing wildly. After we both were out of shock,  my dad asked us to go upstairs and tell my mom to give my dad the key. We both ran up the stairs and did as we were instructed to. We both were on the same page when we just decided to finish our Lego house instead of facing the rat. As the hour hand touched seven, it was time for Kanishka to go back home. As we both waved our goodbyes to each other, my dad and cousin brother came back upstairs. I came out of my room as I heard the door close. “Well, did you find the rat?” I asked with a smile on my face. “The rat left, Aditi.” my dad said. “Oh,” I said. “But we cleaned the garage up fully!” my cousin brother jumped into the positive part of the conversation. The three of us smiled happily. So from that day onwards, my cousin brother was called the bravest one of all us.