The Rat in The Can

 

Remember when you finally got to be a short timer?  I do.

 

I was so short I could trip on a dime.  All I wanted to do was get back to the world, sleep for a week and see a “round eyed”  girl.

 

Was I nervous,  what if something stupid happened ?  I just got to get home.

 

Anyway, you guys know what I’m talking about.

 

I had about a week left before rotating back to Iwakuni and back to the world.  I was a wreck!!!!  I wasn’t worried about snakes, scorpions or those nasty millipede things.  I was worried about RATS!!!

 

For some reason, there were a lot of rats coming into Nam Phong.

We never knew why, but one thing was painfully obvious, if you got bitten, you got to go through a rabies shot series.  A ton of shots into the belly with a real big, bad boy needle.

 

Worse yet, you couldn’t rotate until after the whole series of shots.

 

We used to see these rats at night.  They were big and they were bold.

 

I have a large Siamese cat that probably would have made a nice snack for one of those buggers!!

 

Back to the story,,,,,

 

I had about three days left and had just received a care package from my family.  I never could understand why my Mom always sent chocolate bars, they were always just a bunch of brown ooze by the time I got them.  Anyway with this package I got those cheese doodle things in the can. Man where they good!! 

 

I shared my stuff with my buddies and kept the can of cheese things under my cot.

 

That night I woke up and heard something going,, CLUNK,, SKRITCH, CLUNK, SKRITCH!!!!!  I knew immediately what that was!  A FREAKIN RAT!!!!

 

I laid awake all night, hoping the little bugger would go away. There wasn’t much sense in getting up, I’d probably just get bit on the foot, not to mention there wasn’t really any place to go to.

 

I finally did doze off, and when I awoke I carefully moved my poncho liner and looked under my cot. Thank goodness, no rat, but there was my can of cheesy doodles, a big hole chewed through the top  and little turds.

 

I tossed out the can and gave away the rest of my hoard of treats.

 

The next nights in Nam Phong I learned what it meant to sleep with one eye open!!!!!!!!