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by Norma Tadlock Johnson
by Norma Tadlock Johnson
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 I didn't see the bat come but something made me open my eyes. You know the feeling you get when you're being stared at. We used to do it in Mrs. Rockford's fifth grade, back home in Livington City. We'd stare at kids from behind until they felt the vibes or whatever they are. It was especially fun to do it to Karen Sue. She'd get mad and stick out her tongue. Mrs. Rockford would say, “Ricky, whatever you're up to, stop it!” which wasn't exactly fair. Anyway, that was the way I felt — uncomfortable — like someone was staring at me as I lay in bed trying to go to sleep while my brother Sam snored.Mom says he has to have his adenoids out as soon as we're settled here in Torland. Sam's five, six years younger than I am, and he wouldn't hear it if you set off a firecracker once he's gone to sleep. I know. I tried it once, but it made Dad mad. He said he'd had enough of noises like that when he was in the army. So that first night in our new house, I didn't try to wake Sam. He isn't especially interested in animals anyway. He likes trucks and bulldozers and anything with a motor in it. And as I said, I didn't know enough yet to be scared. I thought it was just an encounter with some animal species I didn't know anything about. Man, was I wrong! I stared back at the bat hanging from his toes and peering at me with shiny black eyes. It was confusing to stare at an animal that was upside-down. It shouldn't make any difference; I mean, eyes don't have ups and downs, they're the same shape either way. Still, have you ever looked at things while you're hanging from your knees? The world sure looks different. THIS IS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL -- DO NOT REPRODUCE! I thought of standing on my head, or getting on my knees and looking between them, but that seemed sort of dumb. I tried bending my head sideways but that didn't help, so I gave up and studied my visitor the way he was, upside-down. He was bigger than I thought a bat would be, maybe eight inches from the tip of his head to the claws that clutched my bed. Actually, he hung on the outside, and peered at me through the space below the rail where I hang my socks until Mom catches me. His wings were folded so that they looked like arms, although once in a while he'd flex them and I could see the black skin between the bones. His body was furry and his ears large. Sometimes he opened his mouth as he breathed, and I could see his fangs. He wasn't exactly cuddly. I had had white rats back in Livington City, and they were sort of cute. Minnie used to run up and down my arms and ride on my shoulder, but I didn't think I'd want to get any closer to his specimen. His face was sinister, with his eyes glinting in the dim reflection from the night-light Sam still insists on having. That's what the bat was, sinister and evil. THIS IS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL--DO NOT REPRODUCE! We stared at each other unblinkingly. At least, I tried not to blink, but I had to give up. If he ever blinked it was at the same time I did, and I didn't see him do it. After a while I began to feel uncomfortable, really uncomfortable. Here was this weird-looking creature at the foot of my bed, staring with those mean eyes. There was no way I could snuggle down in my bed and shut my eyes and go to sleep. I thought for a minute of going to wake Mom and Dad, but I wasn't sure I even wanted to move, much less turn my back on the thing. So I sat quietly, eyes wide open, staring. Everything was still except for the movement of air when the bat flexed his wings. The background noise Sam makes doesn't count. I'm used to that. The odd thing was that, as we looked at each other, I seemed to know what he was thinking after a while, and I answered him the same way. It was a crazy experience. We weren't talking out loud. At least I wasn't. I reached up and squeezed my lips together to make sure. Still, the conversation went something like this: “What are you doing in this house?” the bat asked. This is copyrighted material - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED “We moved here. Dad got a job and we sold out house and came here.” “We got rid of you humans and we thought we made it perfectly clear you weren't wanted in our house.” The bat's eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked even meaner than before. I wondered what he meant by “our” house. Were there more just like him? I supposed so. Bats lived in colonies, didn't they? But how many more? I shuddered. That was an awful thought, to picture a room full of huge, weird creatures who were nasty, threatening, and could talk to me besides. 
“It isn't your house,” I told him firmly, hoping he'd go away. “It's ours. We paid the money we got for the other one to the real estate man. He said an old lady died —” My words stuck in my throat as the bat chortled and flexed his wings. “We know the old lady died,” he said. I felt like someone had hit me in the stomach. I didn't have any air to breathe, and I sat there like a dope, with my mouth open. Then I gasped, and even I could hear my breath go in, ragged and desperate. The bat heard it too, and he knew I was scared. I could tell by the way his mouth opened into a fiendish grin. “Just consider yourself warned” was the last thing he said. He flexed his wings once more, then swung upward and was gone. I saw only a quick, soundless flash of black, and I couldn't tell where he went. As I lay back, I felt sweat running down my face and dripping onto the pillow. Wow, I said to myself. I don't believe it! I kept thinking about my visitor. And if I don't believe it, will anyone else? RETURN TO BOOKS |
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R E V I E W S  from E. Villarreal, Mexico City, Mexico (via Amazon) “Good, short story. It can be read fast. Makes a good tale for Halloween! “Ricky just moved in with his parents to a new house. Everything was going well as first, until the night he heard a voice, and saw at the foot of the bed a mean small creature hanging up side down... bat!!! .... and it talked! “It said the house belonged to the bats and that they had to leave or they would regret. Now to convince his parents of moving out before the bats make him very sorry for staying...” from Ron Habermas, Mason, Ohio (via Amazon) “I really liked the book Bats on the Bedstead. This story is about a 6th grade boy name Ricky. His family moved into a new house. On his first night, an evil bat named Voro woke him up and asked him what he was doing in his house. The rest of the story is about how Voro tried to scare him away, and how Ricky found the courage to get rid of him. “I liked how Voro kept coming back with more and more bats to try to scare Ricky. I also got to learn about different kinds of bats as Ricky did research on them.I thought it was funny when he hit the bats with his pillow. The book was so interesting I read the whole thing in one day. I would recommend it to other kids in the 3rd grade.” from an Amazon reader “A great scary read for the pre-teen or as a read-aloud book. This book should be resurrected in light of bats residing in the Governor's mansion in Olympia, Washington. What fun for Governor Gary Locke, wife Mona and new baby daughter Emily to read aloud. They would gain appreciation for the tiny flying mammels who inhabit older buildings like their own state mansion. Maybe the Locke's have met their Voro, the bat leader who ... but we won't tell the tales of Ricky and Voro” Book of the Year selection Selected by the Child Study Children's Book Committee as a "book of the year" and thus listed in their 1988 Edition for ages eight and up. As stated in the published list, their "selections are based on criteria developed throught the Committee's many years and wide experience with children and their books: basically the suitability of text and illustrations for the age for which the book is intended; the author's sincerity and respect for the young reader; the credibility of characterization and plot; the authenticity of background in time and place; the treatment of ethnic and religious differences; the absence of race, sex and age stereotypes; and the quality of the writing." R. R. Bowker - The Literature of Delight* "A funny thriller that gives the old "new kid on the block" story a horrifying twist. Ricky wakes up in the middle of the first night in their new home to face a murderous bat named Voro. More bats arrive, and they are seriously evil; nevertheless, readers will happily sweat through the nights with Ricky until he finally fights back." Novel, Grades 3-7 * A Critical Guide to Humorous Books for Children (1993) |
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