Late Night Visitors

 

Late Night Visitors

Noel Laflin

9-21-24

 

Why a young man with a baby raccoon perched upon his shoulder stood on the platform outside my cabin late one night some fifty-some years ago still makes little sense. But there they waited, a shy boy with a bulky duffle bag in hand, an overstuffed pack on his back, and a curious young raccoon – who now peered at me with very bright eyes (the raccoon, that is) before leaping from its perch (both gracefully and stealthily, I might add), and made herself at home on my cot against the wall.

 

"And you would be?" I prompted the boy ... It was a little past one in the morning by my reckoning, confirmed by a quick glance at my watch.

 

"Andy," he said, a mop of blond hair partially obscuring his face. "And that's Amy," he added, pointing to the raccoon now sound asleep on my bed.

 

And thus, formal introductions had been made as he also said he knew my name already.

 

"Mr. Bergner told me to bunk here as I am going to work at the Nature Center. Late hire, or so I was told.  Just got word today, told to pack my stuff. Mr. Bergner drove down the hill to give me a right back up tonight. I suppose I am kind of a surprise, huh, boss? Anyway, he said you'd most likely still be up, as you are kind of a night owl, always reading - his words. But, hey, I like books, - nature books mostly - and owls, too, by the way. They're really smart!"

 

"And do you have an owl in your pack as well?" I teased, setting down my book next to the sleeping raccoon.

 

"Ah, no, 'cause Mr. Bergner and I (he keeps telling me to just call him Smokey – I don’t know why – he doesn’t really look like a bear) already dropped her off at the nature center. She's in a cage, so she'll be fine till morning. Her wing is still a little busted up since I found her last month. I think a hawk tried to do her in – a territory dispute, no doubt. But it's coming along - the healing I mean.  Her name is Helga, you know, like the witch. I think you'll like her. She'll really love you if you bring her a mouse ..."

 

The boy stopped rambling for a moment, caught his breath and continued, "Some people think I talk too much. Sorry."

 

I just nodded, suddenly understanding Gene’s decision to hire this kid. I still don’t know how he heard about him, but Andy seemed to be some sort of animal whisperer. I guess word traveled. Anyway, we could use just such a lad, hoping he was good with catching squatting rattle snakes, too.  I always hated that task. I bet Andy would just charm them into crawling into a snake bag.

 

I beckoned him in, gesturing to the second bunk with the lumpy, most likely mouse-filled mattress.

 

"Mice live in all the old mattresses in camp," I told him. It feels like a mini mouse Indy 500 team racing below us most nights. It shouldn't be a problem feeding Helga," I told him.

 

"Cool!" he said, carefully studying the multi stained mattress, anxiously looking for movement within. I figured he probably had a mouse cage hidden in the duffle bag, too.

 

"Did you bring a bed for Amy?" I asked, as he pulled out a faded old sleeping bag and rolled it out.

 

"Nah, she sleeps with me. It's not really a problem, except she snores sometimes. But it's a cute little snore though, so I don't think it will keep you up."

 

"I thought raccoons were nocturnal."

 

"Well, yeah, they should be. But Amy keeps to people hours for now. Maybe it's because she's young still. She thinks I'm her mama, I guess, since I was the one to find her and feed her. Her own mother was hit by a car back home. She was an orphan. I should have named her Oliver or Dodger, but couldn't as she's a girl ..."

 

Amy suddenly woke up at the sound of her name, watching Andy lay out his bed and left mine to join him. She peeled back the sleeping bag's upper half and crawled in. I don’t think she minded the mice below. Maybe they were sleeping as well.  I don’t know.

 

"See?" Andy said. 

 

"I do, I replied, waiting to turn off the light once Andy undressed, threw on a pair of flannel Curious George pajamas, and crawled beneath the covers. He hugged Amy to his chest and said good night.

 

"And thanks for taking us in," he mumbled, before small raccoon snores drifted across the cabin, soon putting us both to sleep.