A Sunday Suprise

Twas late Sunday eve and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
...Now I don't know whose house that was, but it sure wasn't ours here in Kalimpong.  No, Kalimpong was quite a different story late Sunday night...

So get this:
It's approaching midnight, once again Sam is gone for medical training, and everyone else in the house is down for the night.  Being the night owl I am, I am just settling into bed, looking through some pictures on my camera, and getting ready to write a bit.  That's when I see the movement from the corner of my eye.  I look up.  In a matter of seconds, I realize that there are two dark eyes staring at me from the foot of my bed.  I freeze.  Then more movement from the end of the bed, and I make out a tail.  I fa-reak.  Immediately flinging camera, notebooks, pens, and who-knows-what aside, I jump out of (the mouse-infested) bed and get the heck out of there.

Quick interjection:  I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  I am not a wilderness woman.  I reiterate: not a wilderness woman.  Therefore, creepy-crawly things and I get along best by keeping our distance--our lengthy distance.
Now back to the story...

Now what to do?  I out of bed...  Who knows what that mouse is up to... I've nothing long and hard--[Insert "That's what she said!" joke here]--to swat the thing with...  And sadly, that was the best plan I had...  As I mentioned before, everyone in the house was gone to bed and the house was closed for the night.  (In the case of our house set-up, that means the hallway of my floor is shut off from the stairs leading up to the floor everyone else is on by the front gate.)

That's when I scaled the staircase.  I climbed up and over only to get to the top and find everyone's doors shut to dark rooms.  Great.  Defeated, I climbed back down, went to the office, and did the only thing I knew left to do:  Skyped! .  Four hours later, I was finally calm and brave--or at least tired--enough to head back to my room.  Of course, once there,  I grabbed my pillow and a blanket--one that was no where near the mouse--and set up my bed for the night on a couch in the living room.  (By couch, I mean a hard bench with a few lumpy cushions.)

So once again, I've managed to barely survive out-brave the elements of India, and luckily I can laugh now despite how freaked I initially was.

One more thing:  If there's anything I've learned for the future, it's that the household cats are more than welcome in my room no matter how much they may upset my allergies!