GORY GECKO INVASION

Over the past week, we have been sitting peacefully in our living room, minding our own business, when this gecko, we'll call him Speedy, crawls out of our sliding glass door and starts yelping (yes, geckos yelp....kind of a mixture between an arf and a cluck....very loud, eerie, and annoying). I have attempted in vain to catch this reptilian friend and set him free into the wild jungles of Okinawa (AKA our back yard). Every time I sneak up to catch him, he rapidly runs for cover into a hole in our sliding glass door, leaving me panting for breath and Speedy free to yelp all through the night, making it nearly impossible to sleep.

Once, we opened the door so that maybe Speedy would try to crawl back into the wild. No, this little idea did not work, for within moments, Speedy's girlfriend came sprinting into the room, followed close behind by his friends. Luckily, I quickly caught the invading gecko and threw her back out the door. I then lunged towards Speedy and caught the helpless lizard's tail, which promptly broke off as Speedy sped away, leaving a trail of blood in his wake and retreating to his hole in the sliding glass door. Screams were heard by all of our neighbors that night (mainly coming from Mel and Speedy). We sat and watched the sorry-looking tail twitch on the floor. We timed it....it twitched for 5 minutes.

So we are back to square one....a now tailless Speedy has re-inhabited our glass door, yelping and causing ruckus throughout the night. This means war!