Part Monster?

Living in developing countries means all types of unwanted guests in the house. Rats in the squatter. Mice running amok in every possible room, leaving teeth marks on avocados, soap, bananas. Moths the size of my hand. Unknown creatures making unpleasant scratching noises above the ceiling. This was in Tanzania. So far, in Bhutan, it’s been a lot better regarding the rodents. No rats or mice … yet. It could be a matter of time. We have friends who complain of them as well as poisonous snakes who end up in the kitchen. We do have intricately designed beetles that find their way into our house at night, attracted by the fluorescent lights, and end up dying. I brush at least 20 into the dustpan when I sweep, along with a plethora of dried up moths. At night, when we haven’t yet drawn the curtains, there are so many moths on the windows, it’s as if the house will fly away. There are several spiders that have made homes in various corners of the house. They don’t bother me that much. At least they help catch some of the unpleasant flying bugs. I’m just not a fan of the roaming spiders. The big, thick, hairy spiders that I see crawling on the walls and that I fear will crawl onto my face and into my mouth when I’m sleeping at night.

Just two days ago, Scott and I found a new specimen. A scorpion! Yes, a scorpion. We were in the kitchen and something in the corner below the counter caught my eye. It was dark and bigger than a normal bug and caught in a spider’s web. “Look at that,” I said to Scott. “What? Is it a piece of string?” “No, it’s like a tyrannosaurus.” We both looked closer and realized it was a scorpion, tangled and contorted in the web of a spider a tenth its size. I was revolted. Scott was psyched. As long as it was safely trapped in the web, I could deal.

Well, just now, I was in the bedroom undertaking the well-needed task of organizing the closet. I was listening to music, folding rumpled clothes, and putting them into piles. Once I had gotten all my clothes back in the closet, I marveled at my achievement and a calm came over me. My eyes scanned the room. I noticed the early evening sun still coming into the windows. I thought I’d bring the laptop on the bed and do some writing. And then I saw it. A shiny, blacker than black, horrifying scorpion crawling on the wall above the mirror. I’ve never been so revolted by a bug – is a scorpion a bug? Or is it part monster? – before. What am I supposed to do with a scorpion in the bedroom? The sight of it makes my skin crawl and my whole body convulse. I text Scott the news. His reply – “I want to see it. Make friends with it.”