I was just about to turn off the sink when I saw something out of the corner of my eye that made me recoil in horror and let out a scream.
Sam
Inearly jumped out of my skin as an ear shattering scream echoed through the Victorian. I was on my feet and running towards the sound before I took my next breath.
“Ew, no, get away, arrrggghhh!”
I wasn’t sure what was happening, but Livi sounded terrified. The urge to protect her was strong as I raced into the kitchen.
“What? What is it?”
Livi was standing with her back pressed against the wall, a spray can of foam sealant in her hand and pointed like a gun. Her eyes were so wide I could see the whites as she stared towards the sink.
“It tried to kill me!” she screeched.
“What?”
I followed her gaze to see a fat gray squirrel on the counter. It was sitting on its haunches holding what looked like a peanut, calmly watching the crazy lady with the foam in her hand. He’d clearly gotten into the paper bag of peanuts that someone had left on the counter to share with the crew.
“It’s just a little squirrel,” I said calmly.
It made a chittering noise, as if agreeing with me.
“It’s a filthy rodent!”
Her voice was pitched so high I was surprised that the glass didn’t shatter in the kitchen window. Meanwhile the squirrel continued binging on peanuts, stuffing his face like a chipmunk.
“Well sure, technically squirrels are rodents, but he’s not going to hurt you,” I said placatingly.
“You didn’t see the look in his eye. He wants blood.”
“Squirrels don’t attack humans,” I said patiently.
At that exact moment the squirrel threw a nut at us. Livi screamed again, moving behind me like I was some kind of ahuman shield, her fingers digging into the top of my shoulders. I resisted the urge to laugh.
“Told you,” she wailed.
“Shoo squirrel,” I said in a firm voice.
The squirrel picked up another nut and whipped it in our direction. It didn’t seem aggressive though. If anything it looked… amused, like it was playing with us.
“You need to move along Mr. Squirrel,” I said. “We need to close up the house and go home now.”
The squirrel just stared at us. With a sigh I walked closer, intending to shoo him out the open back door where I assumed he’d entered the kitchen. We were all in and out of the house so much during the day we just left the doors open. The squirrel made that chittering noise again and ran across the counter in the opposite direction as Livi screamed again. The squirrel paused at the edge of the counter, and I swear he was daring me to come after him.
“Damn it!”
I spun around, spotting a plunger someone had left on the counter after the sink got clogged. Brandishing it like a weapon, I moved towards our furry intruder. He lobbed another peanut in our direction.
“Be careful,” Livi whisper shrieked. “He probably has rabies. Or the plague!”
The squirrel looked unimpressed at my choice of weapon. I approached it and shoved the rubber part of the plunger in his direction. When I got close, he lunged forward, making me jump. After proving his point, he turned on his paws and sauntered out the door, taking his sweet time. The instant he crossed the threshold I closed the back door behind the furry intruder.
“You saved me!”
Livi flew across the room, and when she crashed against me, my arms automatically wrapped around her waist. She gave me a squeeze, resting her head on my shoulder.
“Thank you so much. I would have been killed or foaming at the mouth with rabies if you’d come any later.”
