I woke late this morning. The day was overcast, blinds were drawn, room was dim.
On the wall to my right, I saw a thing.
It was a brown, elongated thing, about four inches from on end to the other, two-thirds of the way up the wall, behind the cedar chest, pointing toward the ceiling.
I couldn’t remember any light switches or thermostats in the vicinity. I sat up, squinted. Squinted some more.
Got up, tiptoed—why?—to lamp on left side of the room, turned it on, advanced a half-step toward the unidentified object.
Saw little horns sticking out of the end at the top.
Called for David. “Now!”
He came. “A slug!”
He picked up a shoe.
“Noooooooo.”
He ran for a paper towel.
The camera was in the living room. “Should we take a picture first?” I stepped toward the door.
“It might get away.” Paper towel in hand, David pounced, then ran.
There went my chance for authentic photo on my blog post.
He returned. “I relocated it.”
And all was well.
But questions remain:
Where did he come from? How did he get in? Where had he been hiding?
How long did it take him to crawl up that wall? I mean, he’s a slug. Sluggish. Did he cover all that territory while I slumbered only inches away?
What if he had turned toward the bed instead of away from it? Would I have opened my eyes and found myself nose to nose with him?
And, more to the point—
Was he alone? Or did he have company? Are there more? His spouse? His children? His sisters and his cousins and his aunts?
His sisters and his cousins,
Whom he reckons up by dozens,
And his aunts!
***
Kathy Waller 
One more question. Did he leave a slime trail? Why didn’t you pour salt on it? For, you know, a scientific experiment.
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One morning I found a tiny lizard in my kitchen sink. Lizards aren’t unknown to my part of AZ, I see them often darting around outside. But this one was in my sink, yards opposite my second-floor kitchen window. I caught him in a cup and relocated him to the bushes in front of my apartment building. Wildlife. shrug
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I’m hoping he was a solitary escapee slug and not a standing member of a slew of them. I might be tempted to sleep with the covers over my head for a while. Just in case. 🙂
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Guess it’s time to break out the salt and sprinkle it around your foundation.
I hope you and yours are staying safe and healthy during this difficult time.
J Lenni Dorner~ Co-host of the #AtoZchallenge, Debut Author Interviewer, Reference& Speculative Fiction Author
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Every so often, I see slugs down in the basement by the laundry room when I go down for put clothing in. Then when I go back to throw the clothing in the dryer, I see how far the slugs have made it.
Monstrous Love from A to Z
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This was a fun post! Glad it was just a slug and not a centipede or something … yikes! I pause to take pictures too, no matter how stressful the moment, to the great irritation of my family!! Keep safe and smiling until lockdown is done. Nice to meet you. 🙂 xx
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Eek! I once woke up with a large hairy spider on my pillow. That jump started my morning…no caffeine required. Congrats on your A to Z!
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