When I was little we lived in the country and, for a time, I was scared of the dark. I remember waking up and hearing rattling noises in the middle of the night. I would sit up in the dark and listen. It was the sound of a plastic bag rattling, but in the dark I couldn’t see anything, and I was too scared to get up and turn the light on. This happened night after night. My parents reacted much like I do as a parent, “Oh, there’s nothing in your room; you’re fine.”
Still, I knew what I heard, and I knew those noises weren’t there when I went to bed. One night I finally wised up and went to bed with a flashlight. Again I woke up to the noises. Trembling, I felt around for the flashlight and pushed the button. I aimed the beam toward the sound. The spotlight rested on my trash can–lined with a plastic sack! There was something in my trashcan! I stared as I held the light until my ghost or ghosts rather showed themselves. Roaches! They were having dinner each night in my trashcan! Oh well, at least they weren’t on me.
I rolled over and slept soundly. The next day with no roaches in sight, I got rid of the plastic sack that lined my trashcan and seemingly got rid of the roaches…at least they no longer woke me up at night!
You are braver than I. I don’t think I would have been able to go back to sleep after finding roaches in my trash can.
Probably Ebone does not live where you struggle with roaches and other critters all year. In Mexico and in South Texas they don’t die in the winter like in other climates.
That reminds me of a story that happened when I came back to visit my parents. My little brother had lost his gerbil several years ago, I was visiting and staying in my old room. I kept hearing scratching noises, I told they parents and they thought I was nuts. Finally after a couple of nights of me insisting that something was in that room, my father decided to prove me wrong. Well the laugh was on him. My brother’s long lost gerbil was quite alive and had made a nest in the chair in my room.
Eeck. I would have been completely freaked out! I agree with Ebone, I wouldn’t have been able to go back to sleep.
Yeah…that would have made it worse for me!
I once had a roach jump down on my shoulder from the top of the refrigerator when I was getting water in the middle of the night. I let out a shrill scream.
I had the same experience in Madagascar. Those suckers just didn’t want to go away no matter what I did though!
It reminds me of when I was 10–I was sure my bedroom was haunted. 😉 I actually slept on a couch for about four months until I outgrew it!
Reminds me of the time one of my children insisted they kept hearing noises in the bedroom. I was so tired at night that I didn’t have energy for more than the “it will go away ” routine.
That happened a few nights running until…
..I was lying on my bed and a mouse dashed by my head!!!
Turns out there was some sort of weird mouse infestation going on in the whole town: mice were even jumping out of people’s ovens.Kind of like a reverse Pied Piper thing.
My daughter was exultant at having been proved right. Thank goodness that was the only one I saw – don’t ask how we finally got rid of it; that’s a different story.
I have to say though, I slept WAY more comfortably at the thought of a mouse boarder than I did in a later apt when we were invaded by monster cockroaches from nearby sewers (there were 5 sewers between our front and back yards).
Those buggers were worse than slugs, even worse than the army ants that mysteriously invaded a different house the year after (another long story).
I’ve only had a roach one time and that was enough!
Sandy
Nope I don’t do bugs very well. I may have moved to another country..LOL. Since I have had my cat he finds all sorts of spiders and creepy crawlers I never noticed and it freaks me out in a big way. I was convinced there were no bugs in my apartment. I know deep down this is an impossibility but a girl can have delusions can’t she?
What a great post! But roaches! Eeep! I think I would prefer a monster!
You sound like a super brave kid! I probably would have freaked out that there really were “monsters” in my room. Because then I would know that all the *other* noises were real too…