Paradise Lost

It was 4 in the morning.  I woke Jim up and he told me it was only 4.  I have been lying there for about 30 minutes with my eyes wide open before I woke him. 

As I lay in bed, I wondered if it was time for the sunrise and the morning swim.  I can’t believe that the first thing that crossed my mind every morning on Koh Samed has been “is it light enough to go swim yet?”  I had to go this morning because I floated in the ocean yesterday, as an experiment, to see if the tide was pulling or pushing harder.  I concluded that it was pulling harder in the morning as I floated away.  The experiment has to be repeated and the same result has to be drawn to make it conclusive.  I have to try again this morning.  My thoughts ran wild. I am obsessed with having the ocean all to myself.  I was in bed, the sea was calling.  I was powerless, just waiting for the sun to light up the sky.  “That’s why Lima Coco’s slogan is ‘the sea is calling’!” The lightbulb went off in my head!  It brought a smile to my face in the dark room.  

All of a sudden, I saw something moving on the wall.  Maybe it was just a shadow.  But it moved again and curled itself around, underneath the air conditioner.  The black wall-crawler was probably 8 inches long.  I stared in disbelief, scared that it would head over above our bed or down the wall.   I turned on the air conditioner, hoping the commotion will scare this animal to the right direction – away from us.  I have always been deathly afraid of reptiles - the kind with four legs that crawls like a confused marching soldier with same arm and same leg in synchronization – in this case, all legs.  No matter how beneficial these little (or big) creatures can be for the environment, please just stay away from me and don’t let me see them doing their thing!  (Needless to say, I will never switch to Geico insurance)  Did I say I am deathly afraid of reptiles?  After I turned on the AC, the reptile went behind the overhead AC unit.  I got up, turned the light on, woke Jim, and told him about the reptile.  He looked, there was nothing!  He fell back to sleep after he told me the time.  I can’t go get help if it’s only 4am.  Defeated, I stayed awake, read my book, surveilled the AC with my peripheral vision.  But seriously, what was I going to do if the animal emerged?  I made up my mind that I was going to scream to wake Jim but I was going to head for the door flee to safety.  As I battled with my sleepiness, my paranoia, and my fear, I woke up late and missed my morning swim.

We went kayaking after breakfast as I asked the staff on the resort to check on our AC for the reptile.  I settled back in the lobby / lounge of our hotel after kayaking which almost killed Jim from the sea sickness.  Maybe it was breaking of the rituals yesterday and that the reptile was an omen?  Yes, I am paranoid!  Deathly afraid, I said!  I will follow the rituals for the rest of the day, so please please please, no more reptile on the wall.