Wednesday, July 16, 2014

It happened that very night itself

                                                                                               Attribution: Rbalmonia
Image: A large Civet Cat (here)

3WW : Fraught  Honorable Nocturnal
Poetry Jam:  Unexpected

I wish to recall an episode which seemed hilarious now
but not when it happened not too long ago. It was panic
stations and all hell broke loose. It started off innocent
enough when my daughter Azlin suggested we should
take a break considering it was the school holidays in two
month's time. That many months to arrange for everything
was a little tight but as most holiday plans, given to too
much planning might get botched just as much

Even so it was too late in the day to get the best of
choices and we finally settled on a not too known
a place. It was by the sea but close to the jungle fringes
We decided on a week's vacation at a small resort with
sea-side sports activities but with the bonus of jungle
trekking and fishing thrown in.

My loving wife Shadah had reservations initially as a jungle
environment would be fraught with danger of roving wild
animals snakes and all. I just brushed it off as a mother's
natural tendency of added caution, an unnecessary worry
.
We arrived in the late afternoon enough to have a glimpse
of the sea and the accompanying sea breeze tugging at
wisps of our hair. A wonderful time on the morrow was
eagerly awaited.But what a surprise, for the excitement
did not wait for morning. It happened that very night itself

We had retired for the night and snugly in bed snoring
away. Suddenly there was a din in the kitchen, a lot of
banging, knocking and sounds of things falling and
broken plates and pans. This went on every few minutes
We were housed in a 3-room chalet and the kitchen was
the back portion. My son Hafidz went to investigate but
was held back by Shadah. It could be robbers and probably
armed, she cautioned. It could not be as robbers would not
give themselves away I countered.

We called security and a young man, John came by
sneering made a show of bravery and walked confidently
into the kitchen. Things were strewn about dented or
broken. By this time a few of the neighboring chalets
had awakened and stood around wondering what happened
John looked around and declared things were under  control
They would do a clean-up in the morning and all would back
to normal. Shadah then asked John whether it was safe to
pull back the curtains to let air in as a pot of spilled curry
was emitting some kind of odor.

The kitchen window had wire-mesh so John said it was safe.
He made a move to the window and was just about to pull
back the thick curtains - then it happened!

It jumped out from behind the curtains on to John's face.
John cried out and rushed for the door.He missed a step
and his face smashed against the door itself. Everyone
else did the same and rushed into their rooms.

The whole resort was now all awake. Some of the
other guests came armed with sticks to see if they could
help. John in the meantime was cowering in the hall his
face with scratches and blood was all over

The honorable thing for the management to do for which we
appreciated was to have our family transferred  to one of their
suites at the main building. We were there for the whole week.
John was given a few days off but he met us before we left
There were still old scars on his face and when he smiled
there was a toothy grin - on account of two missing teeth
in the front.

He explained it was a civet cat that got trapped behind
the curtain because of the wire-mesh. A nocturnal creature
it was more frightened of John than we had imagined. It was
not a dangerous animal but it was an unexpected visitor which
managed to get in but not able to get out on its own!

For Thomg's hosting at 3WW and Gabriella's at Poetry Jam

25 comments:

  1. He smashed into the door so hard it knocked teeth out? Ouch. I've heard of a civet cat but never seen a picture before. Reminds me of a opossum.

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    1. Well, if a opossum and cat mated that is...

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    2. I suppose it might be a similar.creature. The pic above is one from the Philippines. They are common in this part of the world. In Malaysia and Indonesia they are known as musang. They make forays into chicken coops.

      Hank

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  2. unexpected visitor indeed !!...and entertaining lines..i could see the panic stricken faces....nicely done Hank :)

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  3. ha...that was quite the surprise...kinda relieved it was not burglars as well...ha....but i dont know how easy i would have gotten back to sleep after that....my teeth are throbbing now too..ha

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  4. unexpected visitors often appear on vacation.Love your story Hank

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  5. What an unexpected vacation beginning! An interesting creature that would be fun to see but not at such close range. Sounds like a great place to vacation actually.

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  6. On the upside at least your accommodation got upgraded! nice tale Hank

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  7. Wow, Hank, that is quite a story. That would have been very frightening. You are lucky that none of your family got hurt. Nice that your family got upgraded, however. But sad that John bears the scars.

    (On another note, when you have photos to share with Poets United..send them to me. I think this will be a real treat!)

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  8. This is quite a story, Hank. The kind that one looks back on with a smile but can be pretty scary when it happens. And it was not so nice for John I guess.

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  9. Ouch to that, his teeth must have hurt a ton. Be scary at the time not knowing what or who it was. then have that on your face and run into the door, ouch big time. Nice you got an upgrade though.

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  10. A story you can sure laugh at now. Not so much then though I bet

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  11. This is a great account of an exciting but frightening episode of your holiday. It will serve you well in the future to have such a great story to tell.

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  12. An adventure, not part of your planned time out, all's well that ends well, thanks for sharing

    Much love...

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  13. the unplanned adventure is the best kind, I feel sorry for John though

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  14. Sounds like the stuff of "epic" family adventure stories - the best kind: though hope, All's Well That Ends Well, for John.

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  15. some incidents bring smile to our face!

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  16. Good getting the upgrade. Next time I'm in Indonesia I will keep an eye out for a musang. Never seen one.

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  17. wow..what a adventure..and a good upgrade too..:)

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  18. What a great story, Hank. I like that John got a comeuppance for his attitude, but two missing teeth are a high price to pay. Good thing they moved you to a more civilized facility.

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  19. What a great story! The civet looks very pretty, though cornered, like any creature would try to defend itself or escape. A wonderful vacation story to have with your family! The unexpected usually gives the best stories :-)

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  20. Civet cats... Ive never seen a real one.... Amazing story...

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  21. unexpected but very cute, great story

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  22. Well it certainly was an unexpected visitor/occurrence! Well told!

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  23. What an unexpected visitor! I loved the story, it's very entertaining, and also the way you wrote it.

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