Retired and in a rat race

Every morning, we wake up looking forward to a normal routine. But sometimes we wake up to something unpleasant enough to disturb our routine. As a retired couple, we are not in the "rat race" any more for admission to a premiere university, a lucrative job, or a "perfect" life partner. But on this particular day, we were in a "race with a rat" that appeared early in the morning in my kitchen! As I looked, shockingly, it ran out of my sight and hid somewhere. My first thoughts were on how and from where it could have entered because previous experiences with rodents have taught us to cautiously guard the entry and exit points to the house!

While the rat was in hiding, I helped myself to a quick cup of coffee and rushed out of the kitchen. Later, quietly peeping in to check the status, I got a momentary glimpse of the rodent. My slow reflexes sought the help of an agile person to handle the situation.

My gardener arrived, giving me some hope. I brought him up to speed with the situation, and with sticks and brooms, we advanced to the kitchen. Due to this commotion, the rat refused to stir from its hiding place! We started moving the objects to find it, and it started playing hide and seek with us. My husband entered the scene with a suggestion to leave it alone with some rat poison around and clear it when it's dead.

We kept the rat poison in strategic places and waited for the result. My husband kept his cool, but I was nervously tiptoeing to the kitchen at regular intervals for the latest developments and keeping myself busy, putting away valuables out of reach of this menacing creature. The rat stayed quiet, having rattled my routine. My restless activity continued, giving my husband the idea that I was cooking an elaborate meal.

Alas! The previous day's food from the fridge was being heated for lunch! How could I think of cooking when such bigger challenges were imposed on me? The day ended without sighting the rat again. I went to bed exhausted. The next morning it was there again, and on seeing me, it shied away. Determined to finish the task, I waited for my gardener. Our operations continued.

Troubled by our advances, it came out looking for an exit and ran helter-skelter. We too chased, not giving up the challenge. Finally, it surrendered, and we successfully executed it. In the bargain, there was the additional task of cleaning up all the dirt that had accumulated under the objects we had moved. The race ended well with the elimination of both rat and dirt.