I have been ill for awhile with a severe bladder infection so I have not
been writing my stories as often as I would like. Now with that said, on with the story!
It was just last Thursday and it had been a calm day. There was nothing much
going on and I did a little grilling and a few dishes, and after dinner went up to my room
to watch some TV. Well the antibiotics they have me on are so strong that I can barely
keep my eyes open and that is not good for a writer. Ha ha!! So instead of watching my
reality shows which I LOVE, I fell asleep in my big overstuffed chair. Meanwhile, my
lil doggies took advantage of my not being awake to oversee their antics. So when I got my eyes
opened and focused, it looked like it had snowed in my room. Of course it hadn't, but one would
have thought that!! I got up to do some inspecting and Maggie-Mae, my Bichon who is
still in her puppy stage, had gotten ahold of a brand new box of kleenex and had torn every
single one into shreds!!! What a mess! I looked at the clock and saw that it was already 1 AM
which meant that I had been asleep since 7 PM, getting a good 6 hours of sleep. I was wide
awake now.
I could not run the vacuum as all that kleenex would have clogged it up!! So I
got down on my hands and knees and picked up every single piece, and boy, was my back ever
killing me by now!! So I went to throw all of that away and decided to go back and watch some
more TV since I had not gotten to watch it before. Ha! Well nothing good was on and I decided
to come downstairs and get on the computer and read some emails, maybe even play a little poker.
I love to play poker! That sounded good if I could get a poker table. Well I got bored with
that so I read some emails.
Meanwhile, Dusty, my longtime Maltese companion, who I will eventually write
about, was going nuts. He will not go to the bathroom in the house and when he acts like that
he is
telling me that he needs to go out...NOW!! Ha!! So I got up and Maggie and Sophie and Dusty
all ran in front of me barking. As I opened the kitchen door they ran out barking, which is
normal and then they calm down, do their business, and run and play.
As I heated up some water for some tea I heard all **** break loose. All I could
think of was that one of the big dogs that run loose had jumped over our fence, so I was scared
to death. I ran out barefoot and in my shorts and tee shirt to see what all the commotion was
all about!! Well..I got out there and saw nothing. I had the back porch light on but you
cannot
see around the sides of the house at night. They were still barking like crazy, so I went
around to the side of the house and they were all barking at a big bush while in their attack
stance...hahahaha.. All together they might weigh 20 lbs. Well I still did not see anything
so I decided to bring them in. I had to carry them in as they would not come in on their
own.
Lil 2 lb. Sophie was the last one that I put inside, but that lil rascal is
quicker than lightening, and she got out before the door shut and was right back at the bush!
As I got a little closer and adjusted my eyes I saw a lil white face and thought
to myself that all this commotion was over Miss Charlotte...Danny's white cat who goes out
at night and he stays up til all hours waiting on his lil princess to come back home before he
will close the house up for the night.
I thought that since she was right there that I would do him a favor and bring her in. I bent
over and started to say, "Miss Charlotte." She is not very fond of me. Nothing. So I started
to say, "Here kitty kitty...here kitty kitty," and as I was saying this I reached into the bush
to gently pick her up. All of a sudden I was being attacked! Something had bitten me and
clawed my arms to shreds. I jumped back, grabbed Sophie, and ran screaming into the house.
I yelled, "Danny...Danny....hurry come here and grab a flashlight!." So
downstairs
he came and asked what was going on. I told him the short version and he said, "Oh you were
just
seeing things!!" Yea right, Danny, right...My arms were bleeding everywhere.
He went out into the backyard and said, "I don't see anything!!!" So I ran
and got my shoes, went back outside and showed him the bush and told him that that was where
the monster was. There in that bush!! So he further investigated while I was cleaning my
wounds!!
I heard him hollar, "Call the police! We got a possum in our backyard!!!" So then the first
thing that went through my mind was rabies!!!
I called the police and they were there in minutes. Three cars and five
officers..hahaha!! So they scrambled around and got the possum out of the yard and off he went.
The officers took a look at my arms and told me to go to the ER. By now it is 2:30 AM and we
were getting dressed to go to the hospital!!
When I got to the ER and into triage I told them my story. The doctor called
the police to verify that it was a possum, and then they poured an alcohol mixture over
my arms and I screamed bloody murder! My arms were already on fire!!! Now they felt as
though someone was amputating them!! All I could hear while I was in the room was everyone
talking about the lady who got attacked by the possum. Even the police came into the hospital!!
Ha!! Then they pumped me full of MORE antibiotics and gave me a tentus shot and something for
pain. I got back home about 4:30 AM and went straight to bed and did not wake up until
8 PM the next night!!
Okay folks...here's a little advice. If you or your dogs hear something first
get them into the house. Second, get a flashlight. Third, NEVER reach into a bush when
you do not know what is in there!!! Ha!!!
Copyright 2004 Debbie Cantrell Bowers
