Bzzzzzz.... bzzzzzz...... bzzzzzzz.......

That's the sound I awoke to one night last week, and it wasn't my alarm. See, we were having one of those rare hot nights in San Francisco, so I had the windows thrown open to the night air -- which sometimes brings in an occasional gust of relief, but mostly brings in more annoyances (Opening that darn window has caused me no end of problems. Note to myself: get heavy duty screens installed). In this case, the mosquito that I found perched on my hand, enjoying an evening snack.

Now, I'm used to univited creatures breaking into my apartment and eating me out of house and home, but I draw the line at giving them my blood. I shot bolt upright in bed and ran for the light switch, only to find a now curiously mosquito-free room under the harsh tungsten glow. I could see (and feel) the red welt forming on my hand, so I knew I hadn't dreamed the whole thing. Further examination yielded two more bumps close together on my neck, looking, appropriately enough, like a vampire's calling card. Being bitten once is bad enough, but being treated like an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord is a tad offensive. I let the ire wash over me as I stood vainly watching for the slightest hint of the pint-size pest. Finally, after half an hour of waiting, exhaustion overtook me, and I switched off the light and crawled back under the sheet, pulling it as far up over my neck as possible. As I sat in the silence, valiantly ignoring the itching, I strained to hear the tell-tale sound... but it didn't come, and I fell into sleep once again, until...

Heh. Addie isn't telling the half of it. She was so freaked out about getting bitten again, that by the end of the night she was completely covered from head to toe:

I was intially annoyed by her constant light flipping through the night, but it was all worth it to see her make a fool of herself like that.

You know, Pest, I left that detail out for a reason...

What I don't understand is why you survived the night unscathed. You're a much better target, all things considered.

We have an understanding, the mosquitos and I. We're on the same side after all...