My Night as a Packrat
My Night as a Packrat
Have you ever heard the saying, don’t eat too much junk food before you go to bed, or else you will have nightmares? Well me, being me, decided to take this theory for a little test drive.
My favorite television show, American Idol, was on. I took out what I found interesting and appetizing to eat. Potato chips, ice cream, pizza, M&Ms, candy bars, and more came flying out of the refrigerator and cupboards. I had already finished my good meal when American Idol had ended; I was tired and ready to sleep. I cleaned up the mess I had made, which was pretty big, and headed off to bed. I had only been asleep an hour before it happened.
I awoke to a strange tingling feeling in my fingers, then in my toes, and next my whole body felt weird. Everywhere was getting smaller and smaller by the second; I screamed but realized my voice was squeaky and could barely be heard. Was this it? Was this the nightmare? I looked down at my hands and my feet; they where grayish white. My fur was reddish brown and my bushy tail was too. I raced up onto my dresser and looked into the little mirror. I was a rat, no I was a bushytailed wood rat. I recognized it from my science class!
The room I been sleeping in was different; the yellow on the walls was a reminder of a warm sunny day. The canvas painting on the wall with its Café tables gave you the feeling you were in a very upscale French restaurant. The book shelf in the left corner was bigger than I remember, in one of white shelves contained lots a variety of books from Junie B. Jones to Harry Potter. Gymnastics medals were in the shelf above, old medals, new medals, trophies, and ribbons. A painting easel stood half as tall as the book shelf with a few drawings and paintings perched on it. Next to where I was standing, still astonished, was an alarm clock gently producing country music. When you looked out you saw piles of clothes scattered and tossed upon the floor. Socks missing their mate, and hair bands flung around the room.
Suddenly, there was a bark. I had not realized that the dogs were still up. I panicked just for a slight moment before remembering that my door was closed. As I scurried off the dresser and onto the floor I had a sudden urge to pick up things and put them in a pile, like a nest. I decided not to fight the urge, but to see what I would pick up and why. First, I picked up an abandoned sock; I could see why, it would make a fine blanket for a rodent like myself. A fallen medal lay deserted from the rest; I concluded that I was attracted to shiny things. I knew in a heart beat why I was picking up the M&Ms; I loved chocolate and so does the packrat. Last, the packrat found one of my books and tore a couple of pages out. I was so surprised, that was my favorite book too, maybe to serve as a lining of some sort.
Tiredness began to take its course, I laid down on my newly made pile of stuff. I quickly feel asleep hoping that I will be me when I wake up.
Beep! Beep! Beep! My alarm had woke me up; I threw the covers off me, Wait! I was in my own bed? How could that be, I had fallen asleep on the pile I had made. I looked to where the pile had been and nothing was there. I made myself promise from there on out never to eat junk food again. Well, at least not that much.
