One day, she opened her linen closet, and there, nestled in among the sheets and towels, was a boa constrictor. The woman called some reptile removal place. But by the time they arrived, the snake was gone.
Apparently, someone in the building had this boa as a pet. Somehow the snake had escaped (maybe through the pipes of the building) and ended up in this woman's apartment, never to be seen again.
I read this story a long time ago, but have never forgotten it. If I had been that woman, I would have had to move.
Which brings me to my own little horror show tonight.
I am sitting in bed, lost in All the Light We Cannot See, when I feel a plop, like something has just landed on my head. I brush my fingers through my hair, and a giant bug falls out. It is frighteningly huge, and is later described by an exterminator as "a super-sized roach that flies." I instinctively scream, then jump out of bed.
And then, I can't find the bug anywhere. I take my bed apart. I look under it, around it, inside the pillows, everywhere. It's gone.
I totally freak. There is no way I can sleep in my room until that bug is found.
I go downstairs and am lucky. Aziz, my favorite doorman, is just leaving for the night. I am not afraid of bugs, only bugs in or near my bed. He can see that I'm shaking and doesn't hesitate to help.
Aziz comes upstairs. With much effort, we stand up my mattress and look underneath. No bug. We even look under the box spring. Again, we find nothing. Aziz says, "We've looked everywhere. I don't think he's here." I beg him not to leave until we find him. Then suddenly Aziz shouts, "There he is! There he is!" I see the bug scurrying across my bedroom floor. Aziz is quick. He gets him.
I don't know how this bug got in, and I can only hope he came alone.
I'm just grateful it wasn't a ten-foot snake.
The comforting email I receive from M after sending her this picture doesn't help mitigate my fear.
"I have no idea what the hell that is. I'd move."
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