I wasn't really fond of visiting my village, but this particular time, I had to go. Perhaps I'd missed my grandma so much that I hadn't seen her in a long time.
So on a good day, I packed a few things inside my bag and journeyed to the village. She had no idea that I was coming, and of course, that was meant to be a pleasant surprise.
I'd arrived before nightfall, admiring the beauty of the environment. " Wow! So much has changed around here." I said in an undertone.
"Who's there?" A sharp voice pitched as I approached Mama's building. She seemed not to have recognized me.
"Mama! It's your little girl." I delightfully ran into her arms, giving her the warmest hug that we'd both missed for such a long time. She gazed at me in rapture as she smiled, showing her unfading dimples.
"Welcome, my child! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" She asked
"I wanted to surprise you, and I'm glad it worked," I said, brimming.
So we spent the whole evening chitchatting until midnight, when I got caught up in sleep. The whole night, I couldn't get myself to sleep so peacefully because of the constant perturbation of creepy animals inevitably moving from one corner to another. They must have created their own communities in my grandma's room.
A new day dawned, and I'd woken up feeling so agitated. I couldn't sleep well, so I needed to do something about it for the remaining nights I'd be spending at Grandma's.
So I picked up a broom and a packer, but first of all, I brought out everything defunct. Then I thoroughly cleaned up the room until I got to a corner where old boxes were kept.
"Granny! Are these old boxes still in use? I need to discard them." I inquired.
"I'm not sure, but there are some vital papers in one of them. My standard 6 results should be in there too." She answered.
I rummaged through the boxes, and the papers were all jumbled together in pieces. There was nothing useful inside the boxes, so I took them out. I went back to where the cabinet was placed and pulled out one of the drawers. I gasped and screamed, leaping aside.
"What's going on?" Grandma called out.
"Grandma! You've got a nest of mice in your cabinet." I cried out.
"Oh, that? I literally live with them in this house." She giggled.
Having a big antipathy towards rats, I went out, grabbed a stick, and hit them as they scattered to different corners of the house, except for the cute little ones who couldn't move. I heaved as I watched them run around like it was a running competition.
There was something really distinguishable between village rats and town rats. Town rats would always want to remain in their hideouts until they're unfortunate enough to taste death, but village rats have no iota of respect for humans. They hover around in your presence and sometimes come to feed on your fingers. The rats at my grandma's were so disrespectful, so I didn't spare the cute little ones.
So I emptied everything in the drawers and cleaned up the whole cabinet, including the kitchen. I continued in almost an endless round of cleanup until I reached my taste.
After a job well done, I called on my grandma to inspect her room and kitchen. Her polite remarks about how I'd completely changed the house, leaving it sparkling, were so endearing. I felt so good afterward. Not only did I clean up the house, but she was very happy.
On that night, I slept so well and so peacefully, and other nights after.
I guess we can't completely get rid of rats in our homes, especially the village ones, because, on the morning of my departure, I woke up to see one staring repulsively at me. They must have been so angry at me for breaking into their homes.
"Too bad!" I mumbled to myself as I stared back at it.
"I enjoyed my stay here with you, Granny, and I'll so much miss you," I said to her as I came out of the house.
"I enjoyed more of you here, my little girl! Thanks for the amazing visit, and I'll miss you too," she replied.
Then we hugged so tightly, and I kissed her goodbye.