Going Batty.

This is part of an essay I wrote a while ago about a long camping trip my family was forced to embark on when we first moved to ‘laid back New England’. In which, because of the house we were to move into not yet being built, some of my family (inc, I) slept in a 17^th century barn. Sounds like fun huua?

"The loft was were we stored (piled) our belongings. It was also Connie’s bedroom; sort of. The first night she tried to sleep in her new bedroom, she was greeted by a family of bats. Which for some strange reason, which we brave adventures could not phantom, terrified her to death. As we tried to sleep in our bedroom, which was attached directly to hers, we suddenly and unexpectedly heard her screaming at the top of her lungs. I didn’t think much of it for a while. ‘Maybe she was just amusing herself with a new type of singing,’ I mused. Peter must not have shared my thoughts because he bolted towered her door the like superman (no relationship). A pitiful scene met our eyes as he flung the door open. There was Connie, sprawled in her bed, covering her head with blankets, pillows, and anything else that could be grabbed as a family of bats hovered and dove above and around her.

Poor Connie: We tried to comfort her by pretending that the bats were just a part of our family. Sort of like cats, except ‘fly cats’. More like rats I thought. “Not all of them eat people” I told her helpfully. It didn’t seem to help.

Peter began to excitingly shout the bats acrobatics’ like an announcer watching the World Series winning home run leave the park. “Now it’s diving!’’ He screamed. “One coming from the right another from the left, will she get hit by one of these brave reptiles!? Oh- Will she get hit... No!(!) They miss by a weasels whiskers...’’ Throughout all of this buss Connie ducked, scrunched, dodged, and held on to her pillow for dear life.

Needless to say Connie slept over at the cabin after that night’s memorial experience. In which she would only have to face five inch fussy spiders and roof shaking rats.

What a wonderful life!"