Besieged

There are rats in the office. I was the first to spot one, a dark little creature which scampered across my line of sight while all the others had gone to the cafeteria for lunch. A few days later, two others spotted a rat climbing up the wall and into the false ceiling. Then it was spotted in the little kitchen corner, where the coffee machine and other more dangerous supplies are kept: sugar and powdered milk, biscuits, nuts. Over the Christmas holiday, it seems to have run wild. There were rat droppings all over the kitchen corner, and the head of the office returned from his day off to find that a plate of apricot kernels brought from Hunza had been meticulously transferred to inside his printer. Miraculously, the contents of my secret drawer remained untouched: a handful of pistachios, a few wedges of hideous factory processed cheese, and some digestives (both kept here as emergency rations for days when I forget to bring my lunch). I would take them back with me today, to protect them now that everything else has been put under lock and key, but unfortunately I will go straight to the cinema from here to watch the final Star Wars film. I say ‘final’ but of course it’s never final for Disney.