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“There, I hear it again! Come here, Ryan! Listen to this!”

And once again … silence.

Finally, this became a running joke since the rustling and crunching noise stopped each time I tried to get my son to hear the sound. It was some sort of critter, no doubt, but it only snacked on whatever it was snacking on when I was the only one listening. It had awakened me several times in the night, but quiet ensued when I turned on the light.

My hard working trucker husband arrived home for his Christmas break, and I was delighted to have him home. After eating too many Christmas Eve goodies we settled in for the night. I had been so busy with holiday preparations that I was sleeping soundly in anticipation of another busy day ahead.

“Rustle, rattle, whack, whack! Rustle, rattle, whack, whack!”

I rolled over and snuggled under the covers wondering what sort of dream I was having, but the noises got louder and the lights flashed on. At last, I realized that this was no bad dream. My husband had awakened to the same crunching, rattling sound and decided to take action!

Sleep had overtaken me so strongly that I still don’t exactly know what the whacking sound was, but if I’m guessing correctly Mike was hitting the ceiling with a broomstick or something while yelling at the creature to go away. It must have worked because I slid right back into dreamland.

The next morning I slept through my alarm and woke up a tad bit grouchy and in need of a strong cup of coffee. If I’m being honest here, that is highly unusual for me because I’m one of those annoyingly perky morning people. But this morning I was not. Not only had I been awakened by the critter and my overzealous husband once last night, but at my last count … well, I actually lost count.

“Mike, how many times did you and our squirrel friend go at it last night? I feel like I hardly got any sleep at all.”

“Three or four times, I guess. That animal could do some damage to the wiring. I’ll call an exterminator today.”

“Well, do me a favor and don’t wake me up if you hear him tonight.”

“Ok. I’ll wait until the noise wakes you up before I try to shoo him away.”

Thank goodness I woke to the smell of coffee brewing the next morning. After sharing a few minutes of wake up time I mentioned that I was happy to have gotten a good night’s sleep with no interruptions from our furry friend.

Mike answered, “Well our friend did show up, but I let you sleep, and he soon quieted down.”

The exterminator will arrive tomorrow to try and take care of our unwanted nighttime visitor. I’m hoping that the point of entry can be found and closed so that my furry friends and I can coexist.

Jan Penton Miller can be reached at lilsisjan@yahoo.com.