Zena Wynn, Romance Author

By Zena Wynn and daughter Brianna (in blue)

Okay, it wasn't a killer [you never know mom it could have been] but from the way my family and I reacted, you'd have thought it was. What I'm about to tell you is absolutely true, with no embellishments. 

I'd gone grocery shopping at Walmart with my kids, a mixed set of teenage twins. We'd just returned home and were unloading the car. My daughter, Bree, grabbed some bags and the keys and entered the house first. Brandon (my son) and I lagged behind a minute or two.

As we were entering the house, we met Bree at the door trying to run out. "There's a squirrel in the house," she said. The groceries were thrown on the floor from where she'd dropped them in her hasty retreat.

Brandon and I looked at each other, then cautiously looked around trying to spot the monstrous creature. Meanwhile, Bree had pushed past us and was outside peeping in the door. We crept forward, glancing from side to side, seeing nothing.

"Are you sure," I asked.

"Positive," she stated firmly.

Now my son is not one of those boys who played with bugs and other assorted creatures as a child. He's more likely to run and get me to come kill a spider than kill one himself, so he was more wary than I. He started looking under couches, knocking over chairs, and basically moving anything he thought might hide the little furry creature. He accomplished nothing but he did manage to startle a lizard that had found it's way into the house out of hiding.

"Maybe you saw a lizard," Brandon told his sister.

"It was not a lizard." Bree was emphatic in her denial. [I can't believe he insulted me! Like I don't know the difference between a squirrel and a lizard. ]

"Or a rat," he suggested.

I frowned, looking carefully at the floor, not one bit happy about the possibility of a rat being in the house.

"It was NOT a rat. Rats don't have big, furry tails. I saw a squirrel," she reiterated.

Once again, Brandon and I shared a look. The message was clear. Bree was imagining things. [yeah, so now I'm crazy right?]  "Yeah, right," my son told his sister.

"I'm not crazy. I know what I saw!"

"Okay, I told her." We finished bringing in the groceries. The squirrel, if there was one, was gone.

For over a week, my son and I teased Bree about the "invisible" squirrel that had run her out the house. Brandon was still insisting that it was a lizard she saw. Bree remained firm in her conviction that there was a squirrel somewhere in the house. She didn't know where it went, but it was there.

One day, my oldest daughter called and asked if I could watch my two-year-old granddaughter. She was sick and couldn't go to daycare. I had time on the books and agreed. She dropped Jazz off that morning on the way to work.

We were having a yahoo author chat that day, so Jazz and I spent a lot of time in my room while I was on the computer, making forays into the kitchen for drinks and snacks. On one of my trips out the room, I came out and saw a squirrel. I don't know who was more surprised -- me or the squirrel. [I TOLD THEM!]

It went in one direction and I, the other. Unfortunately, it ran in my room.

It crashed around, looking for a way out before finally running out of the room and disappearing into thin air. Literally. I don't know where it went. I looked everywhere. I crept around like a blonde in a horror flick waiting for the boggy man to jump out at me.

Unable to stand the suspense anymore, I barricaded my grand and myself in the room and emailed for help. Does anyone know how to get a squirrel out of the house. Seriously. There's a squirrel in my house.

A lot of helpful advice resulted in my leaving a trail of nuts in an attempt to lure the creature out of hiding and out of my house. [Disclaimer: If I tell you it's a squirrel in the house believe me!]

When my oldest called to check on her daughter, I told her we were trapped in the room and why. She got a good laugh out of it. I didn't care. I may not have known where the squirrel was, but I knew where it wasn't.

We never did find the squirrel. For weeks friends would ask, "Y'all ever find that squirrel?"

The answer was and is no. It' been a year. I really, really hope it's gone.