
A Life in the Motherland flash back.
Thereās something in the attic… maybe. The first day we moved into the rental I noticed in front of each bedroom the attic access cover was missing. Iāve been trying to get Gary to climb up the homemade 15 foot ladder to fix them. Yeah we havenāt seen a real ladder, but there is one made out of eucalyptus trunks, the same thing they use to build scaffolding, in the backyard. It had rags or cloths tied at the four ends and itās about 15 feet tall. Throughout the house, the ceilings are maybe 15 feet high.
Today is Saturday, Garyās been covering my āhoney do listā, and brings the ladder in the house. One access cover slides easily back in place, but the one in front of our room seems to have disappeared. Being ever resourceful, GRM makes a cover. He pops it in place and āta dahā, the ugly holes in the ceiling are covered. The holes are about 15-18 inches square, so it was a fairly big gaping hole. Glad to have it finally covered.
I woke up at 5am, the Muslims were calling everyone to prayer, and I just didnāt feel I could get back to sleep. Correction itās not just a call to prayer, they actually broadcast the entire prayer service over a megaphone/loud speaker. It involves chanting and a great deal of raving. No, I couldnāt get back to sleep.
But wait, I think I hear skittering across the floorā¦the house has hardwood floors throughout, but maybe itās my imagination, and after another 30 minutes Iāve forgotten about it. As Iām leaving the bedroom I happen to look up, and the attic access cover has been moved. Ohmygosh! How did that happen, what could have caused it? SomeTHING has moved the access cover, someTHING is up in the attic.
On no. I thought I heard something this morning while I was checking my emails at 5am. I just dismissed it as monkeys on the roof, or maybe ducks, or those 4 foot crane thingys. I see ducks on the roof of the other homes and the roofs all conduct noise well, when it rains itās pretty loud. But today when we returned from running our errands Lindsey said she heard noises in the attic, a lot of noises. I assured her, monkeyās on the roof. But someTHING moved the attic access cover, someTHING is living in the attic.
I run to find Gary, because now Iām afraid to cross under it, who knows, a monkey might jump out or jump down. We have company Mesky and Endala. I get my husbandās attention and show him. Something has moved the cover, what could have done that? He looks and says, you better have Endala tell the owner to come and remove whatever is living in our attic. Oh no!!!!!!! You mean the skittering wasnāt my imagination, and the sounds Lindsey and I heard were not made by animals on the roof, but IN the atticā¦.oh No!!!!…living in the atticā¦Oh NO!!
Endala, do you think thatās possible, could there be a monkey living up there? At first thought, he says, not a monkey but maybe a rat, A RAT. What??????? Is that better??? A little furry creature, that weād have to set traps for??? But no, I havenāt seen droppings, and though Iāve only seen mice droppings Iām thinking they must be the same.
Endala grabs the homemade ladder and investigates. The cover is light weight, and Gary explains that he looked for the proper cover, couldnāt find it and fashioned his own. The next thing I hear is our friend Endala making a strangled being-attacked-noise! UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!
I scream, Endalaās being attacked by the creature living in the attic, heāll fall 15 feet to the hardwood floor, and maybe die. UGH!!!!!!!!!!! Gary runs to me, Mesky is laughing and Endala is looking at me like Iāve grown two heads. He was only trying to āwake upā whatever might be up there. Oh, seriously, and thatās better⦠I guess kinda 
He doesnāt see anything, heās flashing the ātorchā around. Yeah, a torch, not a flash light, itās that blasted British influence. Itās everywhere, and the reason my accent sounds funny to them. Anyway, Endala seeās nothingā¦except⦠the actual attic cover Gary couldnāt find. He maneuvers it into place, climbs down, and mystery solved⦠for now. I guess the styrofoam cover he made was moved by the wind. According to Gary, now it would take something fairly strong and intelligent to move the real cover. Yikes!! How do I feel about thatā¦is that good news???