Thank goodness I never found one. At least not in the way I had imagined I would. Besides, I felt quite safe knowing that my husband would always be there to deal with the creatures should they decide to pay us another visit.
Somewhere in mind, a voice kept taunting me, asking me what I would do when hubby had to leave town for business. I would mute the voice in my head. Let's get to that bridge first and then we'll cross it.
Sure enough, the day finally came. Hubby had to make a quick trip to PH for a meeting. He would be back the next day. Just one day. Surely I could survive the night alone for just one day?
I got home early from work and since it was a Friday, I settled myself into the couch, armed with a large pack of Lays potato chips, to watch movies till well past midnight. Around 1:30am, exhausted and sleepy, I checked, again, that the doors were locked and switched off the generator. I was tempted to leave it on through the night just for the comfort of having the lights on but I didn't. What was wrong with me anyway? Suddenly scared of the dark? Besides, PHCN might restore power during the night so why burn fuel unnecessarily?
I said a quick prayer as I buried myself under the duvet. Sleep came quickly.
Around 2:30am, barely one hour into my precious sleep (I know the time because my phone sleeps next to my head), my eyes popped open. I felt the hair on my neck begin to rise. Something or someone was in the room with me but I couldn't see it. My fear was palpable. The darkness was thick except for the low iridescent light from my mobile phone screen. My heart began to beat really fast and that was when I heard it. The unmistakable flapping of wings. I froze. It was as though something had pinned me down in bed. It was unbelievable. A bat was flying around in my room!! The air surrounding my face was suddenly disturbed. I could tell that the bat had just whizzed past my head. That was when I regained use of my limbs and tumbled out of bed heading straight for the door.
I was breathing real hard as I felt my way to the living room. Was this some cruel joke of some sort? How come a bat was flying around in our bedroom at 2:30am in the morning? How did the bat choose this particular night? This one night when hubby was away? We had had several months of respite from these visits and suddenly they make their appearance again? No, this has gone way past coincidence. Way past!
I knew what I would do though. I would simply pass the night in the living room and by morning, I and the bat would resolve our differences. I nodded to myself that it was a good plan.
And so I curled up on the couch and tried to sleep. But just then I heard the familiar flapping of wings again. My eyes shot open but I could not see anything in the darkness. The hair on my neck was at attention and I felt blood rush to my head.
I jumped off the couch and dashed across the room to grab the re-chargeable torch-light which usually hung on the wall opposite the couch, hitting my shin on the coffee table as I went. I ignored the pain and switched on the torch. I could not believe my eyes. There was indeed a bat flying around in the living room!
No. Way. No. Way. No. Way. I kept repeating, over and over and over again as I marched towards the back door to switch on the generator. The fear was suddenly gone and in its place was anger rising within me along with the adrenaline being released into my blood stream. Without paying attention to the bat, I went into the kitchen to grab a broom, dust pan and Mortein Insecticide. These were my weapons of 'warfare' but just before I headed back out into the living room, I paused as this scripture came to me -"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds..." II Corinthians 10:4.
I dropped my weapons and began to pray. I declared God's Word concerning my life, commanding the works of the enemy to be destroyed. Armed with faith, I picked up my other 'instruments' and practically charged at the bat. Swiping my broom at it as it darted here and there. After what seemed like a long time but which in fact was only a couple of minutes, the bat came down. I rushed to it and didn't wait to see if it was dead or merely stunned before I proceeded to slap it again and again with my broom. Oh, how I smashed that little bat! Convinced that there was no way the squashed bat could ever come back to life, I swept it onto my dustpan and threw it outside.
One down, One to go.
As I marched to to the bedroom, bolstered by my first conquest, it occurred to me that two bats had never visited our house at the same time before. It was as though this particular visit was supposed to accomplish something. Something quite sinister indeed. But the devil is a liar!
I threw open the bedroom door expecting the bat to charge at me since I had just killed it's 'sister' or 'brother' for that matter. But there was no bat flying around. I flustered the drapes just in case it was hiding behind them but it was not. I checked under the bed, behind the reading table, but there was nothing. It was as though the bat had simply disappeared.
I felt rather disappointed. With all that adrenaline in my bloodstream, I was spoiling for a fight! Or...wasn't there a second bat? I remembered that I hadn't actually seen this bat but the flapping of wings I heard was real. Or...maybe as I rushed out of the room, the bat followed me as well? And so maybe the bat I killed in the living room was the same one I had heard in the bedroom just before? Questions, questions.
I flopped into bed and became enveloped by a sudden feeling of exhaustion. What a night!!
Later that day, as I drove hubby home from the airport, he had this incredulous look on his face as I recounted the details of my 'adventure' with the bats. At the end of my tale, I could tell he was impressed at how I handled the situation. My usual response to distressing situations would be to call him, expecting him to do something, not minding the distance between us at that material moment. I had indeed come of age!
As we prepared for bed that night I followed my husband's gaze as he stared intently at something on the floor, partially covered by the the bedroom drapes. The puzzled look on his face caused me to approach the object with caution. It was he who bent down to take a closer look and he started smiling. "I think we have found that second bat after all". What?
Aha, it was indeed a bat. Strange thing is, it was dead!
Well, as far as I am concerned, that's divine intervention right there. And the bats haven't visited again since.
PS: One of our neighbours upstairs confided in us that bats had been visiting his place for quite a while. He was relieved to hear that they'd visited our place too. Even though there were unvoiced concerns of a superstitious nature, we got the landlord to organise a fumigation exercise. Interestingly the fumigation company discovered a colony of bats living in our roof. Does that solve the mystery then? I wonder.
Call me superstitious, discount the bat visits as 'normal' for a house with resident bats, but this one thing I do know - bats won't be visiting our house, ever again!
