My Guest in Apartment 10B

Halloween in April

Rats must have evolved to be heavy creatures that have a penchant for stepping on things. That could be another plausible, yet unlikely explanation for it.

Arabella was aware that as the time ticked by, her rationalizations for the phenomenon in her kitchen were becoming more and more absurd. But because her mind refused to accept any culprit other than the rats, this line of thinking would have to suffice for now.

She baked a fresh batch of cupcakes. The base was a moist chocolate cake that used rich-tasting Dutch-processed cocoa powder. The filling which also doubled as the frosting, was a brightly colored tangy orange since she had a welcome fruit basket lying around in the living room.

Before retiring to bed, she tried to call home, but since no one picked up, she just left a message to say that it was her.

Arabella woke that morning languidly, stretching on the bed as she pried her eyes open from leftover sleep. She moved to check her messages and found a few unread texts and a missed call from her mother.

She scrolled to read the messages and found them to be more disconcerting than comforting to hear from home.

Have you settled in nicely?

Arabella, if I do not hear from you soon, I shall call the police!

Reply ASAP!

Richard was on the street looking for you. I told him you went overseas.

The mention of Richard's name brought bile up her throat. Why couldn't he leave her alone?

She quickly dialed her mom's phone number, as she prepared to leave the bed.

"There you are," her mom breathed through the receiver. "Honey, I received your message late last night! How are you settling in?"

Arabella blinked, swishing her legs around over the edge of the bed to allow the soles of her feet to graze the floor in search of her bedroom slippers.

"Mom, I'm doing well, no need to worry. I've got a beautiful place."

After finding the soft plush slippers, she lazily walked around the room to look for a hairbrush. "I've just got a few things to clean and fix here and there. I start work in 2 days."

"What do you mean you have to fix things? Why would you rent out a broken apartment?" Typical of my mom to find fault in something she hadn't even seen.

"The house isn't broken..." Arabella trailed off, as she descended the stairs.

Reaching the ground floor of her apartment, she exchanged her bedroom slippers with the regular house slippers.

She moved to the small dining area and ecstatically peeked at her cupcakes which were still tightly sealed inside the carrier. Sweeping her view towards the kitchen, she wondered why there was a pan on top of the burner.

"Uhh... I just have a problem with rats."

Huh. Did she leave that there last night?

"What," her mom's voice screeched at the end of the other line. Arabella did her best to ignore her chiding, and instead focused on finding a solution.

"Would you suggest putting the rat glue paper behind the refrigerator or in dark corners?"

She walked towards the grocery bag and removed the thin cartons of glue paper. "Should I start with flypaper or the thicker ones?"

"Have you seen the rat?"

Dubious of the importance of this minor detail, Arabella declined. "Must we see something to know that it's there?"