charlemagne

Duel at Dusk

Last night while sipping sake and watching anime on the old TV, I noticed a flicker of shadow on the wall and then the beast itself. It was a bat! How it got into the house I don't know because I'd blocked off the fireplaces, but there it was anyway!

I've had bats in the house before, and usually I use a tennis racket to knock them unconscious. Once they are harmless, I throw a towel on them, pick them up and release them outside. Since it's been years since I've had to battle a bat, there was no tennis racket handy, and I didn't have time to hunt one down. The blasted thing was flitting here and there around the room, and because I had no desire to get rabies or lose sight of it, I grasped the closest weapon I had at hand, which was a fine replica katana (sharper than a razor, differentially tempered, folded steel--the whole bit). Taking the classic stance with the katana, I faced off against my opponent, and slice, I caught him in midair. Yuck! Anyhow, I won and he lost! A real Musashi moment!

One just never knows when adventure might come soaring into one's life, and one must relish it while one can. A real adrenalin rush it was. However, damned bats in the house scare the crap out of me! Outdoors they're fine, but not in the house.