Last night I was invited out to a girls only wine and cheese, and had a really nice time. I got home about midnight and was unwinding on the sofa, playing this stupid game called BubbleXplosion on my iPad, and watching the tail end of Urban Cowboy. Really addictive time wasting game! Anyway, shortly before 1 a.m., my eldest child returns home from a 'Full Moon' party, without his shirt. One of those things that makes you shake your head, but not for long. Sometime after going to bed, I hear the next child arrive home from her evening out, and hear her bring the dog into the house. At 3 a.m. the dog wants to go outside, so I grudgingly and groggily grab my robe and go to let him out. Robe not fully on, I am shocked to see headlights on on my driveway. I know oldest and next oldest are in the house, so I get my robe on properly, then return to the door, suspecting that the youngest has snuck out of the house. I watch in fear/anger/disbelief as this young male approaches the front door, hood up, trying to get the dog not to bark. Thinking this is the youngest trying to sneak back into the house, I steel myself. The door opens, and in steps a young man (not my son) with brownish red marks all over his face. I recognize him as a friend of my eldest son, but cannot figure out why he is walking into the house at 3 a.m. or what the markings on his face are. At first I am thinking wounds, but then realize it could be face paint. Indeed, he confirms it is facepaint, and that he has forgotten something in CBs car and needs the key.
As astonishing and surreal as this is, the nocturnal activity doesn't end there. About an hour later, I hear a very muted and strange moaning sound. Worried that it might be my youngest, the diabetic, I get out of bed again, and have a look around. Because I didn't see him in his bed at 3 a.m. I go to the basement first, to find that he isn't there either. Heart pounding, I come back upstairs, and have another look for him in his bed. He is indeed there. Alright, the moaning is not coming from any of the humans in the house, so wtf is it? Outside to find the dog; instead the noise is much clearer, and is a distant dog bark. But where is Kelso? Rattled and wide awake, I look out the back window, to see the little porcupine in the bird feeder. Wait, there is a large dark shape on the ground too, and it is moving toward the house. WTF? The large porcupine is here too. Back outside to find the dog before he finds the porcupines. Finally, he lumbers up the front step, quite uninterested in being brought into the house. With the dog and all humans accounted for, I risk going back to bed, heart still racing, head pounding, hoping for some sleep, which does eventually arrive.
Will the fun ever stop?
