WW Fetching

Mrs. Brown and the Bat Encounter

It was a lovely August day. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the green leaves swayed on the trees. Mrs. Brown was spending a Sunday, a true day of rest, at home with Mr. Brown and the Littles. Mrs. Brown was doing laundry, not her general idea of a restful Sunday activity, but considering their lovely camping trip they had just returned from late the night before it was nevertheless essential.

Mrs. Brown stepped out her back door onto the little porch where there stood a clothesline pole, tall and statuesque, and hung a clothesline, slim and dainty, obliterated against the eastern blue spruce surrounding the Brown farm. Mrs. Brown gazed off into the trees, her thoughts on distant things as well, as she proceeded to reach into the dilapidated clothespin bag for pins.

Her attention was swiftly brought to reality when she heard an aerosol can spraying close to her. Ch-Ch-Ch. Suddenly Mrs. Brown realized her wrist was wet and instantaneously all her faculties were focused fervently in the general direction of where the noise was coming from. She jumped perceptibly as she stared at a tiny black bat staring back at her from behind the clothespin bag. The bat hissed and spit, showing wicked vampire teeth. Mrs. Brown flung the towels in the basket and went running inside, yelping, “There’s a bat!! And he spit on me!! HELP!!”

Mr. Brown came running. Mr. Brown did not generally run in an emergency. But then, Mrs. Brown did not generally yell things about bats either. Tall Boy Brown and Middle Boy Brown came running as well. Mrs. Brown hid behind the door while her men cajoled and frightened the little bat at intervals. It hissed and spit and bared its teeth. Mrs. Brown thought perhaps she had never seen something so evil in her life, as she watched from safety inside.

After a while the frightened little bat flew away, swooping dangerously into the corner by the garage, then to safety in the trees. Mrs. Brown breathed a sigh of relief and tears pooled in her eyes. Mr. Brown and Tall Boy Brown and Middle Boy Brown went back to reading their books.

Mrs. Brown stared down at her basket of wet laundry, then scooped it up and hurried inside.

Now Mrs. Brown is very cautious about fetching clothes from the wash-line. She carefully peers around and in the clothespin bag every time and shudders.