O Happy Day, the Rat is Dead!

3 days ago
I'm relaxing on the living room couch after a busy day when I hear a yell. Recognizing Jason's voice, I jump up and run to the kitchen. "What's wrong Jay?" I ask, and he smiles sheepishly at me. "I saw the rat and it took me by surprise." "What do you mean, the rat?"I ask, eyes narrowing. "Since we haven't seen any sign of it in the last few days I've convinced myself it was just a cute little mouse, that has now found it's way back outside where it belongs." "Nope, it's definitely a rat, and a big one too with a super long tail." "Nice." I groan. "And now to top it off it's in our kitchen too! I guess we'd better set the traps again." I look dejectedly at the mouse traps. "These aren't going to be very effective are they?" I ask and Jason shakes his head. "Let's just set them anyway, maybe we can catch its tail or foot or something in it." "Okay," I reply and we both get to work. Once they are set and put into place we make our way out of the kitchen and firmly close the door.
The next morning:
I gingerly open the kitchen door and peek in. Not seeing anything unusual I slip inside and close the door behind me. I make my way to the traps and notice quickly that the bait is gone, but the traps haven't sprung. "Hmm.. a smart one." I murmur. Checking the pantry, I notice it has also gotten into my bag of rice. "Oh man, I guess I'm going to have to spend the day rat-proofing the kitchen." I moan, before letting myself back out. Jayden is now playing in his playroom and I debate what to do. When I knew the rat was in our bedroom closet, I didn't want to tell him, because I knew he would want to go see it, but we go in and out of the kitchen all day so I decide I'd better explain. "A rat?" Jayden questions. "I wanna see it!" "He's hiding right now." I tell him and Jayden's eyes light up. "Like hide and seek?" "Something like that." I reply. Apparently satisfied with my answer he climbs up into his high chair and asks for a bowl of cereal. I get it ready and then put it on his tray table. "Don't forget to pray Jayden." I tell him and he folds his hands and says a little prayer. Once he's finished praying he looks up at me questioningly and asks. "Mom, does the rat pray?" I try to hide my smile and then shake my head. "I don't think so Jayden." He looks pensively in the distance and it's not hard for me to conjure up the image that I'm sure he's imagining.

A cute little rat, all sweet and cuddly. Not exactly the same picture, I have in my mind.

Later that morning:
I walk to Eagle Market and find two big rat traps and rat poison. That evening, I set both traps carefully tying on some bologna as bait. I count nine pieces of poison and place each piece on a napkin on the kitchen counter. I really hopes this works, I sigh as I firmly close the kitchen door!

The next morning:
As soon as I wake up, I head to the kitchen to check the traps. Yes! We got him! The poison has all been eaten and although the bait in trap #1 is gone and it didn't spring, trap #2 didn't let me down. I run back to the bedroom to wake up the sleeping Jason! "We got it!" I tell him grinning and he smiles sleepily. I head off to the spare room for some rubber gloves and then get to work extracting him. For a girl who three years ago wouldn't allow her sister to kill a fly, I've come a long way. I look at the rat for a little while to make sure he's really dead before I squeamishly open the trap and pull it out. I then place it in a bag and tie it shut. I carry the bag outside and place it in the trash. "O happy day, the rat is dead!" I sing as Anoud and the kids watch me. They must really wonder sometimes.