Day 38: Letter to the injured gecko

Dear Lil’ Gecko,

Please accept my sincere apologies for severing your tail when I hastily shut the window last night. We were trying to watch the UFC fights and couldn’t hear well over the cicadas screeching in our ears. Let it be known, it was my husband who asked that I close the window. Since they don’t latch unless they are closed hard, I put some muscle behind the slide. It wasn’t until you shot out the side and onto our wall that I saw you. And it wasn’t until I looked a little closer that I realized you didn’t have a tail anymore. We found it in the window sill, and I’m glad to report it looked like it still had some life left in it since it was at attention, gyrating back and forth…still working, even with the rest of you three feet away.

I’m thinking that you were just in shock from the unexpected amputation and that’s why you couldn’t hang on to the wall anymore and fell on the floor. I also assume you just needed to relax a little bit and compose yourself while you laid on your back. I hope you don’t mind that my husband brought you back outside in the dustpan; we thought it’d be best so you weren’t separated from your family and friends. Neither of us wanted to interrupt the dance your tail was still doing so we left it there.

Seeing as you weren’t on our step this morning and your tail was no longer on our sill, I’m pretty sure you collected yourself (no pun intended), relocated your tail and headed immediately to your doctor to get it reattached. My husband thinks otherwise.

Just so you know, my reptile phobia doesn’t really include your kind. I think you and your friends are cute when you hang around on the outside of our windows kind of like gecko shaped Sticky Hands. I would never intentionally do anything to harm you. So please, accept my sincere apology and don’t be afraid to visit again. Might want to steer clear of the window sills next time though.

Also, I’ve vowed to never shut the windows here again so as to avoid any further mishaps. I wish you a full and speedy recovery.

Sincerely,
Nicole