No longer entry-level

This is the view from the top of Mokola Hill, Ibadan as taken from the nostalgic Premier Hotel.

This May, it’ll be four years since I graduated from college. Oh my goodness. It means I’ve left the realm of entry-level. Yikes! And here I am still screaming and jumping and running away from a mini rat that walked into my room. I screamed so hard, I dropped my cell phone while talking to my mother.

Then I remembered she was still on the line and grabbed the phone to put her mind at rest. She was quite sympathetic considering that my mother grew up with all boys on a farmland – things like cockroaches and rats don’t intimidate her. In yesterdays, my scream fest would have warranted a hiss from my mom.

My voice is still a bit tender from the scream. Even the little rat was confused. It twirled 280 degrees before finally deciding to head out of my room. You better!

Of course I had to report the yeye rat to my sweetie. In fact, I would have ordered my knight in shining armor over to my place (yes ke, I was a damsel in distress!) were he not smack in the middle of a meeting when I called. Nonetheless, he has this way of convincing me that the rat and (or any other object of terror) I will not cross paths anymore. And I believed him. At least enough to dash to the kitchen to switch off my burning pot of rice.

Now I’m tiptoeing around my own house. What utter rubbish. In my late 20s! The injustice of oppression! I must overcome this fear.

First thing tomorrow morning, I’m calling the fumigator. I’ve already placed cloth under my door - yes the rat is small enough to crawl under.

But in the meantime, I’m going to sleep my fears away…

Good night.