22
by warmowski_Archive
You have my every sympathy, JohnW. This happened in the family house when I was ten or eleven. It seems like it took months to fade away, but you know how time dilates when you recall your kidhood. It was probably weeks.
This is what I recall about my dead rat in the wall:
- It occurred during a point when the parents were fighting nearly every day, the waves of dysfunction and waves of stink are inseparable in retrospect.
- Nobody explained to me what was happening, I had to figure it out myself. This took a while because I came logically to the conclusion of dead rat or dead mouse weeks before I could accept the skin-crawling reality that something could walk around inside the walls in the first place. Mind you I had never seen a rat or mouse in the house, barely even any in our alley.
- The folks attempted to pin the smell on me. I dunno. If I was exasperated all the time and kind of dumb, I might do the same to a kid. I did walk around for a few days cataloging my juvenile exploits, wondering if it were possible that I did this.
- The odor of decomposition has a sweetness to it that is really alarming. Like a meaty turd with a lemon wedge in it. Sorry.
- That was the year that Sweetness, a.k.a. Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton had his MVP season with over 1800 rushing yards.
To this day, goofy smells really throw me off.
Hang in there, it will be over soon.
-r