Break-in
e'd been watching the family for nearly a week before he decided to make
his move. It was not part of his usual pattern to strike in the day, but
something had attracted him to this house. A feeling stronger than he had
ever felt before.
He knew that the man left the house every day at morning time. The two young ones would always leave in a flurry a short time after. But the woman. The woman would only leave sometimes. This puzzled him and posed a major flaw in his plan.
He knew it was dangerous to try and get in during the day. Even with no-one there, the neighbours might notice something, or that wretched dog might give him away. Oh, how he hated dogs! One night, he'd tried to break into another house and a vicious, slobbering dog had savaged him. It had taken him a long time to recover. He scratched the scar on his leg as he remembered.
This morning, just as he was about to give up, he saw something that made his huge, dark eyes widen with interest. The woman was leaving the house. And she was taking the dog with her. She dragged it by a long, shiny chain. He watched the woman bundle it into the car. She spoke to it, and wagged her finger. Its ugly pink tongue hung out and its tail wagged back at her. He had no idea why the family would want to keep such an unintelligent animal.
Finally, she climbed into the car and they drove away.
He couldn't believe his luck. The moment he'd been waiting for. He'd chosen this house partly because of it's ease of entry. A huge oak tree, with branches right outside an upstairs window provided a good vantage point to watch them at night. He particularly liked to watch the girl as she prepared for bed...removing first the sparkling rings from her fingers. The glistening neck chains and earrings...
The oak tree was also an excellent ladder. It would be a short jump from the tree branch to the window ledge, and if he was careful, he could do it comfortably.
Stealthily, he climbed the tree, reaching up and pulling himsef closer and closer to the branch level with the upstairs window. It was, as usual, slightly ajar. A curtain flapped in the breeze through the opening. He looked around to make sure no-one was watching him. Then he jumped. He landed on the window ledge and was almost inside, but lost his footing. He groped wildly for the curtain and managed to grasp the hem. It held him long enough so that he could clamber back up to the window ledge. He hooked his foot over at last, and was able to jump to the floor - inside!
He looked arond the room. His heart pounded with excitement. Then he proceeded to ransack the neat, floral room. He sent ornaments crashing to the floor. He smashed glass bottles containing odd scents. He pulled pictures from the walls and swept books from their shelves. In a delighted frenzy, he knocked a little fish bowl to the floor, watching with amazement as the moribund fish flopped about. It's shiny orange body writhing and contorting until finally...it was still.
Satisfied that he had created enough havoc in this room, he crept down the hallway to wreak more.
There seemed to be little of interest in the other upstairs rooms apart from some furry aniumals on the beds. He managed to to tear the heads off two of them, then he made his way down the stairs.
Several compact discs lay on a bench in one room. Their incredibly shiny faces glinted up at him. He stared at his reflection in them for a moment then swept them to the floor. He skated and jumped on them, scratching them unmercifully.
That done, he moved to the kitchen. Ah yes. The place from which the wonderful aromas wafted up to his nostrils as he waited in the tree at night. He found a canister containing something white and powdery, which he upended onto the floor.
There was bread beside the sink. It was hard and cold, but he ripped the packet open with his teeth and took a bite. He hadn't realized how hungry he was.
He drew exquisite delight from pushing bottles and packets to the floor so that their contents cascaded across the tiles. There was fruit in a basket on the table. He took a generous bite from every piece.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so excited.
After the wild beating of his heart slowed, he looked around to survey his handiwork. It was almost time to go. But not without leaving his calling card.
He stood amongst the debris on the kitchen floor and proceeded to defile it further with the contents of his bowels and bladder.
Satisfied at last, he ran from the kitchen - and almost collided with the woman and the dog.. All three stood for a second, suspended in time. Then the woman screamed. The dog reefed itself away from the woman and leapt at him, barking wildly and dripping foamy saliva on the back of his neck. He hissed at the dog, and dug his claws into it's wet black nose. The dog yelped in pain, distracted for a moment. He saw this as his opportunity to escape.
He scampered up the stairs into the room he'd pillaged earlier, and with more precision than he'd exercise coming in, leapt from the window to the safety of the oak tree. He crawled into the knothole and disappeared into the cavernous space that was now his home.
Curling up, he wrapped his long bushy tail around his body to slow the pounding of his heart. He was excited but exhausted. It had been a grand adventure indeed. As he sank into a deep sleep, he promised himself that from now on he would be a good little nocturnal marsupial...
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