Okay, ya’ll, I know that I often tell you stories that couldn’t possibly be true or are, at least, questionable at best.  However, my good friends, what I’m about to tell you is the honest to goodness truth.  This actually happened a few years ago while I was working in the Northwest Arkansas.

As I did every morning that I came to the office (usually before everyone else), I would stop by the building’s break room and start the first pot of coffee and then come in to the our offices and start our own coffee pot, boot up the computer and start my day. 

This particular Monday morning was no different except that, when I walked into the office, I noticed that our little fridge was open.  I grumbled to myself that, if the cleaning crew was going to raid our fridge, they could at least close the it’s door.

But then I started noticing some things out of place.  Picture frames and pencil holders were turned over and one set of blinds in the main office area was askew.  I turned around and looked back towards the office door and that’s when I noticed that one of the ceiling panels had been broken through and the debris was all over the floor under it. 

Now I’m a bit spooked.  Picture Don Knotts kind of spooked (don’t laugh).  Armed with my trusty oatmeal spoon (I said, don’t laugh!), I commenced on a Baghdad-style, cube to cube search, ready to use the ninja/navy seal, fight-to-the-death training that I’ve never received. 

After I confirm that the the cubes were empty, I say, “Clear!” but then asked myself, “Dummy!  Who are you saying ‘clear’ to?”  Some Ninja/Navy Seal, huh?

Proceeding on my mission, I noticed that some of the phones on the table outside the conference room have been over-turned and the blinds immediately above them had been messed up.

Fearing the worst of violence, I enter into the conference room.  There, I noticed two of the three sets of blinds were askew, much like the ones in the main area.  I looked behind the set of blinds closest to me to see if the window had been broken and it hadn’t.  I turned to look at the blinds furthest from me to see if the window there was broken and that’s when I spotted the deadly perpetrator:  a possum curled up on the window ledge. 

I did one of those cartoonish mid-air, “Exit!  Stage Left!” kind of exits.  The mystery still remains where the accompanying bongo sounds came from but it happened.

I called the city’s animal control department and a kind man effortlessly secured the scared varmint (the possum, not me), and assured me that he was taking the little fella to the edge of town and releasing him.

I can, obviously, laugh about it now. However, at the time, it took the rest of the morning before my adrenaline and heart beat throttled back to normal.  Afterwards, I thought of how, when the possums of life decide to show themselves, how we tend to interpret the evidence as representing something much more negative that the reality actually is.  Life can give us evidence that impending doom is certain when, in fact, a pest is just lost outside its element. 

In other words, as the old saying goes, things aren’t always as they appear.  I haven’t had an experience like that since then but, I can assure you that, if I do, I will investigate the evidence a lot closer before going into Ninja mode.

I’ll also close the conference room door almost immediately, just in case.