I was born on the 13th, so naturally when I was growing up, I often heard, "You're unlucky! Your birthday is on the 13th!" To stop this teasing, I finally decided to turn the situation around by declaring "13" to be my lucky number. After that, when given a choice, I chose the number 13! I will readily admit that I have won several contests by choosing the number 13!
All was going well until that ill-fated night when I was in high school. I was excited because the next day was my birthday on, you guessed it, Friday the 13th! I was suddenly awakened during the night by something flying down and "swooping" across my face before flying up again. It was dark, but by the moonlight it looked black. Could it be a B A T ?????
Being the cowardly teenager that I was, I quickly covered my head with my blanket and started screaming, "Help! HELP! H E L P !!!" The more the bat swooped, the larger it became in my imagination. Unfortunately for me, no one came to my aid. I didn't really expect my brothers to come, but I wondered, "Where are my parents?" And then it occurred to me: my room was upstairs in our home, and my parents' and brothers" bedrooms were on the first floor!. Of course they could not hear my screams, especially with my heavy blanket over my head.
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| Noah's drawing of "My Bat" |
"What can I do now?" I asked myself. Even with the blanket over my head, I could still hear the swooping and screeching, and I was absolutely terrified! I knew I needed to take action, and take action now!
I slowly stood up (with the blanket over my head) and edged cautiously to my door. I felt for the door knob, and quickly turned it. I then someway walked down the stairs in the dark with the blanket still over my head! It was amazing that I did not fall down the stairs and break my neck (or something else)! I found my parents' room and muffled a yell, "HELP!!! There's something in my room! I think it's a bat!"
My Dad quickly jumped out of bed and ran to the Sun Porch where he grabbed a badminton racket. With lightning speed, he then raced up the stairs while my Mom attempted to settle me down. When Dad came back downstairs, he said it was a bat, and he had, "taken care of it". At this point, I didn't ask how! He said that the window in my room had dropped down an inch or so from the top of the frame, and that was enough space for a bat to slip through! My Dad, My Hero, repaired the window so that scary situation would never happen again!
I still consider the 13th to be one of my "lucky" numbers, especially since my granddaughter Mia was born on Friday the 13th! Occasionally, though, when I think of my "Bat Encounter", I still wonder what are the odds of being awakened by a bat swooping in your face - and on your birthday - on Friday the 13th?
This episode still has me puzzled, and today is Friday the 13th! Of course, I am older and much braver now. Although I am not superstitious,
I may just sleep on the couch tonight -
with an extra blanket and
a badminton racket nearby!
Love that story!!
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