A little brat rat regularly ate my car wires which were connected to my car air-conditioner. I would get into the car, start the A/C but after a few minutes start sweating, and then start swearing profusely. I would get out, open the bonnet and there lied the proof. Wires had been eaten by the bloody rat. Then I would take the car to the mechanic who would be smilingly waiting for me. Without even checking what was wrong with the car, he would go inside his shop and get the necessary tools required to fix the wires. It had become a ritual- religiously started by this rat. Sometimes I think the rat ate the wires just to mock me. He would be thinking - today I have nothing to do, that buffoon has parked his red car in the same place again and will not move it for the next 5 days, let me go and eat some wires, it’s anyways bit cold, and I need some exercise for my teeth so - crunch, crunch, crunch.
Maybe it was his appetiser or his dessert. Or maybe he wasn’t hungry at all. He just seemed to love it.
I had enough of it. I had to catch this mocking rat. After some deep thinking - I devised a plan. I went and bought a packet or rather packets of naphthalene balls. These are small, white chemical balls which produce a terrible stench. I took a few of them, opened the car bonnet and placed them inside and shut it. And I waited for the next day. I woke up earlier than usual - eager to check the wires They were intact. Hooray! I took the car out for a small drive to celebrate.
I slept peacefully that night. But the next day when I started the car and then put on the A/C, I heard a hissing sound coming out from the duct. Once again I sweated and swore profusely. What had happened was that when took I the car for a drive the naphthalene balls had rolled off and the happy rat had a field day. Again the same mechanic repaired the car. He was once again pre-equipped with the tools. And that innocent smile. As if he wasn’t aware. Seriously? You and the rat were in cahoots. He charged me less this time for his services. Maybe he took pity on me. Maybe the rat ate less wires. Maybe whatever.
The next day - deeper thinking. I opened the bonnet, took few naphthalene balls, and put them in a small cloth. I opened the car bonnet and placed them near where the A/C wires protruded. I thought for a moment and realised the cloth might just roll off just like the naphthalene balls did. So I smiled - the mechanic’s smile or the rat’s smile, took a small thread and tied the cloth with the naphthalene balls and tied the ominous looking bundle to the small A/C duct in the car bonnet. I checked and rechecked the setting. Mission accomplished and satisfied. The stench will drive away the rat, or i guess even any human being. The rat didn’t come the next day or the day after. It probably went away in search of some other buffoon. The mechanic’s smile faded. And I took an oath - I will drive less or drive only when needed, or not drive at all, so that the package doesn’t fall. And keep the car as a trophy which I will keep staring at it stupidly which I had won against the mocking rat. Well! I didn’t catch him but….
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