NONFICTION

Who in Their Right Mind Tries to Pet A Bat?

But one time, my sister tried to do it

Bats are often considered a bad omen in our culture, and taking one as a pet is unheard of. However, there was one time when my sister wanted to keep a bat as a pet.

It was a fine morning, and I was enjoying a rare stay-at-home vacation day. Suddenly, a scream woke me up, “Ayiya, please come here,” and it was my sister’s voice. She had the habit of turning even minor things into serious matters and creating a scene.

Reluctantly, I visited her room, only to find her dressed to leave for work. I expressed my frustration, “What’s the matter? Some of us are trying to sleep here.”

“Look what I’ve found,” my sister said, extending her hand, which held a small, dark, moving object.

“Wait! Is that a pup? Like a bat pup? Ewww. Why are you holding a bat in your hand?” I asked, surprised.

“I just found her by my window. She’s very tiny and still shivering,” my sister responded.

“She?” I questioned. Why did my sister refer to the bat pup as “she”?

“Yeah! She’s definitely a she. Just look at her cute face. Fortunately, Wayira (one of our adventure cats) hasn’t seen her,” my sister replied, playing with the bat pup a little. It seemed that the bat pup was responding to my sister’s gentle petting.

“What are you going to do with it? It’s better to keep it on high ground,” I recommended.

“She,” my sister corrected me. “And I won’t risk her life, at least not until sunset. Even after that, I will consider whether it’s okay to release her.”

“Are you going to keep it? Are you out of your mind? Who has ever heard of keeping a bat as a pet? It’s very unusual,” I objected.

“If you can keep an ugly fish, why can’t I keep a cute bat pup?” my sister argued.

“Hey! Take that back. My fish is not ugly…”

“She has a point there,” a voice came from behind, interrupting me. It was my wife.

“Whose side are you on?” I demanded of my wife.

“I’m not on anyone’s side. But that fish is very ugly. However, having a bat pup as a pet is too much. It’s better to release it,” my wife suggested to my sister.

“Did you hear that? Having a bat in the house is a bad omen. Release it now,” I said to my sister with confidence.

“Nope, I’m not going to release her now. I’ll decide once I return from work,” my sister said.

My sister has a soft heart for every type of animal. The stray dogs always come close to play with her. Our neighbor’s guard dog, who everyone is afraid to go near, lies at my sister’s legs like a calm golden retriever. Once, she tried to pet a lizard too. So, her attempt to keep the bat pup makes sense.

My sister placed the bat pup in a small box covered with pieces of cloth and positioned the box in a side locker of the table. After that, she closed the door to her room and put the key into her pouch, giving us a look.

“Like we have nothing to do except pet an ugly bat,” I hushed.

That evening, my sister came home early from work and went straight to her room.

We heard a loud scream, “WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BAT PUP?”

She rocketed into the living room; “I don’t know how you did that. Tell me, what did you do with my bat pup?” she screamed furiously.

“Hey! Nobody did anything to your bat. You locked it in your room this morning. Don’t you remember?” I shouted back.

“Now she isn’t there. You somehow opened the door and released the bat,” my sister frantically shouted.

“No, they did no such a thing. They didn’t even stay at home. A little after you left, they also left the house and only returned a few hours ago,” our mother came to the rescue.

“Then, after their return, they must have done that,” my sister protested.

“Enough with that. Ayiya and Akka didn’t do it. Look at the locker again. It is probably hiding in a corner,” Mother said in her ‘This is your first warning’ tone.

“I checked the locker thoroughly, but she isn’t there,” my sister responded in a toned-down voice.

After that, we all checked all possible locations in her room, but without success. That bat pup had simply vanished.

My sister firmly believes that we released the bat pup, and there’s no use in searching the room.

But the thing that puzzled us was where this bat pup had disappeared. My mother and I thought it had somehow escaped from the locker and hidden in a corner, later slipping out of the room, possibly when my sister opened the door in the evening.

However, my wife added a superstitious element to the story. According to her, what my sister found was not a bat pup but some form of a ghost. That’s why the bat was able to vanish from the room. I don’t know. Maybe my wife is right. What if what my sister found indeed was a ghost?

Abandoned houses often become residences for bats. So, their wing flaps, screeches, and distinctive smells contribute to an eerie atmosphere, fueling superstitious beliefs. That’s the reason we consider bats a sign of bad omens. How about your culture?

Special thanks to the hardworking editorial team at The Narrative Arc. A heartfelt note of gratitude also goes Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles to for her invaluable insight.