Rat in a jar

Sahira is my closest friend. We used to share all our experiences but once, she was in real trouble. It all started with that one concert.

Sahira was getting late for the concert as she was sleeping all day. All her friends including me always insisted she maintains a routine, but she never listened. In a hurry, she left the windows open.

She was off guard that day.

When she returned home, she was too tired to look after the house, so she went to sleep. Things went well for a few days, but then some unusual things started to happen. She wasn’t sure but the cutlery was not in place one day and some of her clothes were missing the other day. That all felt strange, but she decided to ignore the facts and tried to act normal.

She kept all that to herself.

Her performance in the office degraded. I kept asking her what was wrong, but she never told me anything.

After a few months, she realized that there wasn’t any ghostly presence in her house. As she discovered her favorite outfit full of shit, she was sure it was a RAT. She mocked herself for all the fear she had about that phantasmic presence and her imagination. Now things become a lot easier for her, it was just a harmless little rat. She decided to buy a rat trap to get rid of that rat. She prepared the rat trap, and all her worries were dumped for now. She was looking happier than ever before. Her friends asked her the reason and she said with a smile, “Just a change of perspective and clarity in thoughts”.

To that date, I was unaware of it, THE RAT.

She never mentioned anything about the rat to her colleagues, maybe she was embarrassed. When she went back home, she was surprised to see the monster in the cage.

That was a happy moment.

She was terrified of rats. It was practically impossible for her to throw it out. She just covered the rat cage with a dark cloth to get rid of the sight. Seemed like all the problems were solved, and innocent Sahira was proud of herself.

She thought now she would live freely and fearlessly without any rats’ presence in the house.

Is it that easy to get unburdened by our fears?

The rat made every effort to come out, and in the process, it made a lot of noise. Sahira got migraine and insomnia due to the noise.

She consulted me for some painkillers and sleeping pills.

One day there was no noise, and she felt a little relieved for the first time in weeks. She again started living a happy and promising life.

Do you know what is particular about happiness? The momentary presence.

It was only a few days ago Sahira told me that she is feeling much better and that she no longer requires sleeping pills, but now she complains about nausea and vomiting all the time. She started saying that being in the house feels suffocating.

It must be because of the rat!

The rat died after all of the efforts and struggles of getting out, and Sahira won.

The rat’s body started decomposing. Her house smelled like hell. She said she is using room sprays to cover the foul smell.

Is that enough? Can perfumes cover foul suffocating smells?

Many times, I told her to get rid of the RAT, but she was still afraid. I told her that it is dead and can do no harm, but she was not convinced.

It takes courage to get unburdened by such rats.

THE RAT is symbolic of the TRAUMA we keep carrying and embracing unknowingly all our lives.