Me vs. The Rat

The volunteer who lived in my house before me had recommended that I get a cat because she had always had a rat problem. However, after living there for over a month I had yet to see any rats or any signs of their presence. One night, I awoke to the sound of rustling in the kitchen area of my house. My friend Mallory happened to be staying the night and because I didn’t want to frighten her I decided to not draw attention to the intruder. I awoke early that morning and cleaned up the mess that had been left before Mallory could see it. I knew it was a rat. Cardboard and paper shreds were scattered everywhere as well as the tell-tail disgusting little black pebble droppings.
The next night, I awoke again to the rustling, only this time much closer to me. I hesitated to act, wondering if I really wanted to turn on the lights and face the issue or simply try to ignore it and go back to sleep. I knew I had to be brave. I couldn’t allow my home to be taken over by vermin. I thought that when I turned on the lights, the intruder would flee but it did nothing of the sort. It sat on the desk next to my bed, twitching its whiskers and blinking its black beaty-eyes at me, with no apparent cause for concern. Even as I poised my shoe above its head, its just stared at me. I gave it a good, solid whack, which sent it running to the nearest crack in the wall.
The following day, I was sitting at the table working when I heard the pot on my stove rattle. I looked just in time to see a tail disappear behind my kitchen cabinet. I was furious! How dare it be so bold as to come out in broad daylight! I couldn’t let this continue. I peaked behind the cabinet and saw it paused on the wall directly behind. I placed both my hands on the sides of the cabinet and thought, “Am I prepared to do this? Can I?” With that I pulled the cabinet forward and launched it back into the wall with all my force. I heard nothing but when I looked again it was in the same place, seemingly unphased. So I pulled the cabinet forward again and put all my weight behind me as I pushed. This time I felt the contact between the wood and the soft body of the rat. It fell to the floor, injured, and began to run around my house dragging its legs behind it. This was too much for me. I panicked. Its one thing to hit something unmoving that you can’t even see and another when it is right before your eyes, alive and moving. I couldn’t bring myself to finish it.
I ran outside where my neighbor, Orchidia was hanging laundry. “Pode ajudar-me por favor?” I asked with desperation in my voice. “Help you now?,” she responded, “Okay, I’m coming.” I shinned the flashlight on to the spot under my couch where I had seen it attempt to hide. “Hold the light there,” Orchidia said. Then, with the smallest and most unthreatening stick imaginable, she proceeded to beat the remaining life out of the little thing. Orchidia was holding my leg to support her as she crouched over the rat but I began to squeal and scream and would have run right out of the house if she didn’t have such a tight grip on me.
After about 50 blows and stabs it was over. Orchidia kicked it out of the house, over to the trash pit while I attempted to compose myself. Tears filled my eyes. I had never killed anything larger than a cockroach. And it was such a brutal killing. But I knew it had to be done. The next day I got a cat. Hopefully, it’s presence alone will frighten away every rat to come anywhere near my house and I’ll never have to do anything like that ever again.