ACT 2: Dealing with the situation

To review: there are maggots on the floor and a dead mouse in my laundry bag. Formerly clean and still neatly folded laundry lay on the floor nearby.

(if you need further details scroll down to the previous post)

What is a girl to do?

Scream

Scream some more

Call husband and scream

Husband laughs and fails to understand the gravity of the situation

Scream when reminded that there are maggots on the floor

Ask. Beg. Plead with husband to come home and take care of the mouse corpse.

Scream again when reminded that the contaminated beach towel touched my arm just moments before.

Husband unwilling come home to deal with mouse situation, uses some “I’m at work” excuse.

Scream when reminded that will have to deal with dead mouse and very alive maggots on her own.

Scream at cat, who now seems interested in the contents of the laundry bag. Where was he a week ago?

While a valiant effort, screaming failed to solve the problem.

The screaming eventually subsided and the mouse, maggots and linens were escorted to the trash.

A cleaning operation and a search of epic proportions for a living mouse ensued. No further evidence of rodent activity was found, and all of our clothes – and I mean all – were carefully laundered.

The question remains – why was there a dead mouse in my clean laundry bag? We don’t have any mice in the house (believe me, I looked), which means it must have gotten into my bag at the Laundromat. How this is possible I don’t know. It’s one of the great un-answered questions of all time and, most likely, will remain a mystery.

But as of late, I developed a cautious fear of laundry bags.