Page 10 of Rumor Has It

“What is it?” I ask.

“Come here,” she says, her voice softer.

I step over to the door quietly, waiting for her to tell me what’s going on, when I hear it.

“Is that chirping?” I ask. “Or some type of animal?”

“I don’t know but it sounds scared,” she says. “I’m going out.”

She pulls open her glass door, still without pants, and steps out into her backyard in her panties, shirt, and boots. Yes, boots but no pants—you heard that right.

“Be careful,” I say. “You don’t know what it is.”

I turn on the flashlight on my phone and point it in the direction I think the noise is coming from.

“There! Right there, see the grass moving?” she exclaims.

We step toward the dancing bunch of grass that seems to be concealing something, and Ellie leans down, moving it out of the way.

“Oh my god, it’s a baby opossum,” she says quietly.

“Where’s its mom?” I ask, searching all around the yard. There’s no sign of any other opossums in the area, which is concerning.

Ellie picks it up and holds it to her chest.“It’s freezing,” she says. “We have to keep it warm.”

Stepping back inside her room, I take it upon myself to go back out and look around more thoroughly for any other signs of life. I search all along the edge of the patio and through the middle of the yard, then around the edges, but nothing. No mom and no other babies.

Once back inside, Ellie’s already emptied a shoe box and placed a small hand towel inside.

“Google says to keep them calm and warm and to put them in a nice dark space,” she says.

“Do you think it’s hungry?” I ask.

“Google says not to feed it yet,” she says. “I’ve got to contact Emma tomorrow. Maybe she will know what to do.”

We both stare down into the box as the little thing curls up into a crescent shape. It kind of looks like a mouse but with bigger feet and cuter ears.

“Maybe in the bottom of your closet?” I suggest. “Less noise and light.”

Ellie nods, opening her closet door and pushing shoes in the bottom aside. When she places the box down, the little opossum begins to chirp less. I take this as a good sign, like maybe it’s less stressed.

“We’ll get this sorted out in the morning,” I assure her. I lean in and kiss her on the cheek, and before I can step back, she grabs me, hugging me tightly. I hug her back, not wanting to let go until she feels comforted.

“Will you sleep in here with me?” she asks. “I’m not making a move on you or anything. We’re not cuddling or hooking up. But knowing you’re next to me would sure make me feel better.”

“Of course,” I say. “Let me go get the stuff from the couch.”

Two seconds later, I’m back in her room, adjusting the pillow on my side of the bed. She slipped into the bathroom to finish changing. I pull off my pants but leave my T-shirt and boxers in place. They’re basically shorts, so I don’t exactly feel weird about it.

I’m already under the blanket before she returns wearing little shorts and a tank top as pajamas. We both know the other usually sleeps mostly naked, but as this is a strange turn of events, we’re more reserved than we’d normally be.

“Comfortable?” she asks.

I nod. “You?”

“Yeah,” she says. “I took some ibuprofen and drank a good amount of water.”

“Good idea,” I say.

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