Last Trip to Giant Rat Island
We have a place out on Giant Rat Island where we used to spend a few weeks of the summer.
It’s not as bad as it sounds! The rats aren’t really that big, and sure, we know that there are millions of them there, creeping around in the catacombs, but we hardly ever had any problems with giant rats until Mitch showed up that year.
Mitch. Can you believe this guy? He thought the island’s name was a joke. He thought we’d named the island to keep the tourists from stopping there, and to deter unwanted guests, like himself for instance, from inviting themselves along for our family vacation. ’Who wants to go to Giant Rat Island?’ We just presumed that nobody wanted to come along.
It’s true, nobody has ever wanted to come to the island before, and my family and I, we were fine with that, since Giant Rat Island was our family retreat-- not really something that we invited guests to. I hardly even knew Mitch, so I didn’t plan to invite him along. It all happened so fast.
Mitch. So he goes to my parents and begs them to take him along to the island, and in just a few minutes, he somehow persuades them to agree to it: Mitch would be coming along with us to Giant Rat Island that year.
![IMG_3317.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmeetUrPF9zra2tsRx1RQxxWND9w2ERxDjGm8hJHnRTfPJ/IMG_3317.jpg)
The Story is All Downhill From Here
I would be happier if I could write this without mentioning that Mitch had worn bright yellow swimming trunks with little cheese wedges printed all over them to Giant Rat Island.
It would be great if I could report otherwise, but the rats of Giant Rat Island didn’t eat Mitch and his cheese shorts.
I would probably enjoy writing about that trip to the island if it weren’t for the fact that the giant rats actually seemed to like Mitch, or that he turned out to be some kind of rat whisperer, and soon had the whole lot of them following him around the grottos all day and night.
Could I write about the perfect weather that year, without also mentioning how Mitch and his rodent hordes had taken over the whole waterfall area every day? It’s not a huge deal, it’s just that the nicest, most pristine swimming area had Mitch and his cheese shorts always in it, all over it, all the time. Him and I guess every rat on the island, now enjoying my family vacation a great deal more than I was.
Imagine my disappointment, if you will, when we discovered that-- contrary to my accusations-- Mitch was not feeding the giant rats, but that the rats genuinely loved Mitch. They adored him.
We always used to feel a twinge of pride about how smart the rats on Giant Rat Island were, but when I accidentally witnessed one of the awkward music-less erotic dance routines that the giant rats put on for Mitch one day in the grotto, I felt some new concerns. Mainly I just felt dirty, and wondered if the ocean itself could ever wash that sight from my eyes.
While I wanted to end this with a bit about how I never wanted to leave the lovely island, and how the crashing waves against the isle had enchanted me, the truth is; I was ready to go.
There was supposed to be a section about how I didn’t want the vacation to end, but I really wanted the vacation to end.
If only I could write that we took off and hauled Mitch back to the mainland and vowed never to bring guests along to Giant Rat Island again. Instead, I have to write that when it came time to leave, Mitch and his clan of rats had disappeared into the catacombs, and to make a sad story a little shorter; we ended up leaving him there.
It’s hard to say how I felt when I saw that cheese-yellow glint on the beach as we pulled away from the island that year. It’s really a shame that all I can remember is that my imagination took over the story of Mitch from that day on, but nothing that I imagined about Giant Rat Island was pleasant after that.
I’d like to conclude by saying that we went back the next year and Mitch was gone, but alas-- we never went back.
Mitch. Can you believe this guy?
![IMG_2143.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcFQFiVxHbWWdmDxkzkbJtTexo2Yjj8yCfTsQZBrG8DY9/IMG_2143.jpg)
You made me think about the rats here in Cambodia.
Fun fact.
There are some giant rats here (big almost like cats) that are friendly with humans and that are trained to smell mines! So, how incredible is that? They are used to identify the location of mines not exploded yet (there are many in Laos and Cambodia from the Vietnam War).
Rats can be friendly and used for good causes :)
That is a fun fact, and it sounds like an excellent trick that those rats can do.
You reminded me of "Life of Pi" movie. He didn't go to a Rat island, but it's poisonous and scary though. Great story, unfortunately it seems not a series :P :P
Oh yeah, I guess I could have stretched it out into a longer story, I got in a 'this would be a better story if...' mode, and it got really short.
I love your sense of humor! Looking forward to reading more of your posts! Upvoted and followed!
@bitsy :)
I'm glad you looked in! My odd comedy is liable to show up again, very soon. Thanks!
We have a very popular holiday destination in western Australia Rott Nest Island.
Rottnest was named in 1696 by Willem de Vlamingh, a Dutch explorer, who named the island Rats' Nest due to the many large rats that he found on the island.
They were small marsupials, quokkas. They cover the island still. Last time I was there a friend of mine left her gate open and found one in her baby's bassinet.
And here I thought that I had made the place up-- this was supposed to be fiction!
😂.
This is a photo my husband took. They are everywhere and so placid. I almost didn't see this one, I nearly stepped on it.
I have a terrible rodent fear, they are marsupials not rodents, but they look enough like a rat for me to have had a fairly stressful stay.
https://steemit.com/photography/@azurejasper/steemitphotochallenge-entry-quokka
They do look a little ratty, but not the scary kind. That is a nice photo of one though, looks harmless enough!
Very harmless quite vulnerable, you honestly have to watch where you walk in case you step on them.
For someone scared of rodents going there is like graded exposure therapy, they are cute.
They don't move fast like mice and rats, they are like a small slow moving wallaby. Pretty cute.
The open ocean ferry crossing to get there 😷😵 , that is memorable in a traumatic way.
@therealpaul You have earned a random upvote from @botreporter because this post did not use any bidbots.
Thank you for your daily post.
Really you doing very good job.
Thanks for sharing with us
This just got more adventurous than i thought :D