Lisa held her hand under the spigot and waited. The water flowing between her fingers grew hotter until it was “just right.” She pulled the diverter up and heard the shower scream to life.
Lisa grabbed her towel from the back of the bathroom door and rested it over the top of the radiator. She took the glasses off her face and placed them on the bathroom sink, folding the arms behind the lift rod handle and using the faucet as an ersatz nose.
She dropped her robe to the floor, opened the shower curtain slightly, snuck into the tub, and quickly closed the curtain behind her.
Lisa was massaging shampoo into her hair when she noticed. The water level was already over her toes; it wasn’t draining as quickly as it normally did. She made a mental note to call, no, email the landlord.
The problem seemed to get worse.
She thought she noticed something blocking the drain but through soapy water and without her glasses it was hard to see.
Lisa kneeled down in the tub; the shower noise changed as more water deflected onto the vinyl curtain.
She removed the drain cover, and almost immediately felt hair.
There was so much of it, and it felt squishy.
Her stomach churning, she pinched a small amount of the hair and pulled. It resisted more than she thought it would. It was too heavy.
Lisa looked at her hand and saw the dead rat.
Then the live ones came.