• "There's a lizard in the kitchen."

    It took a few moments for these words to make their way through the initial grogginess that comes with being woken up at half past three in the morning by someone who is not supposed to be in your bedroom. Ramy compensated for the lull by grabbing the nearest pillow and shoving it in the general direction of the noise's source. Unfortunately, she used too much force and managed to miss by two inches, causing her to slide off the side of her bed and onto the rug.

    Finding this new upside down position to be rather uncomfortable, she decided it was best to open her eyes and see just who had decided to be suicidal this morning. She found herself staring at a pair of socks decorated with a popular wide-eyed sponge-like cartoon character. Groaning in annoyance, Ramy kicked at the side of her mattress, sending herself into a half roll, half flop to sprawl out in front of the dresser.

    "There's a lizard in the kitchen."

    "Uh huh," she said, glaring at a balled up wad of yesterday's homework that had managed to miss the wastebasket. "And just what am I supposed to do about it, Ollie?"

    "You could kill it," he suggested in the typical tone used by ten-year-old boys everywhere when the solution seems obvious. "Only its kind of big and its got teeth and claws like Godzilla."

    "Sure it does."

    "It does, I saw it! It attacked Dob when he tried to get the peanut butter!"

    "Good."

    "What if it's got dangerous bacteria infested in its mouth?" Ollie asked apprehensively, shifting his socked feet a bit. There was a hole on the inside of the right heel. "If it bites one of us we could get sick and start throwing up our livers!"

    Ramy raised her head up off the floor at that, glaring at him with a grouchiness usually reserved for mornings when the coffee pot refused to work.

    "First and foremost, your liver is not directly connected with your digestive track and therefore could not, in any way shape or form, be vomited," she informed him, elbowing herself up to a more comfortable position. "Secondly, I'm putting Animal Planet on the block list and cancelling your subscription to National Geographic."

    "Aw, but next issue is about dinosaurs."

    "They're extinct, get over it."

    Grumbling and using the dresser for leverage, she stood up. This did not improve the view, for now all she could see was the top of Ollie's wild, tangled mop of a head.

    "When was the last time you washed your hair?" she inquired of him, reaching over to pick what appeared to be a twig sticking out above his left ear. It had several leaves still attached to it. "Never mind that, what'd you do, take a nap in a bush?"

    "Um, the lizard kind of chased us through the window."

    "The window?"

    "Yeah," Ollie muttered, looking a little embarassed at having admitted being afraid of something as unevolved as a member of the reptilian species. "It was hissing at us."

    "Why didn't you use the door?"

    "It was blocking that particular escape route."

    Taking in a deep breath, Ramy fought down the urge to cause him bodily injury. Ollie was her cousin, he'd be sorely missed by other members of her immediate family. It also probably wasn't such a good idea to commit murder without prior planning and a good night's sleep.

    And besides, she really didn't want to ruin the rug.