The Possum in the Potty

I get home from working the evening shift around midnight. I usually let one of more of our 3 cats in or out and then go to the back to change clothes, brush my teeth, and go to bed. One of the cats will lead the way from the kitchen, down the hall and to the bathroom. On this particular night, as we were heading down the hall when Misty came to the bathroom, she looked in and came to a full stop then abruptly did a U-turn and came back toward me. Something was in the bathroom. Having one mighty hunter cat in the family leads one to be cautious in entering a room where the catch of the day might have been brought in—small snakes, birds, frogs, all have been brought inside in the past for proper admiration. Cautiously I peeked around the corner and there was a wide-eyed plump possum looking calmly back at me. She wasn't frightened, more like curious, as if to say “Well, look who else has come in from the cold; Isn't it nice and warm in here?” Oh dear, how does one get a possum out of one's bathroom?? So off I go to get JMM to figure it out. His solution was to open both front and back doors (and let in the very cold wind that was blowing which was probably why the possum wanted to come in side to begin with). He then got the broom and ushered her toward the open back door. She felt the cold wind blowing and decided that the laundry room would be much nicer and off she ambled to the laundry room which he had not remembered to close off. Behind the washer seemed like a nice cozy place for a plump possum to settle in but JMM used the broom to usher her out and into the dining room where she could go out the front door. Nope, too cold out that door also. So back we go to the kitchen. Now you might be wondering where the cats were in all this. They were every last one of them sitting on the island in the kitchen watching the people following the possum round and round. I could see what they were thinking: “What fun!! It isn't usually this lively when she comes home from work!!” After a couple of trips round the kitchen, through the dining room, and back again, I was able to block the exit from the dining room and Madam Possum went out the front door into the cold. She never seemed particularly frightened so I think she was the possum that lived in our tomato jungle last summer so that she was used to us. She obviously wanted a warm place and maybe thought there might be fresh tomatoes inside. Finally we were able to close the doors and head off to bed. I do hope Madam found a warm place out of the wind too.
In case you are wondering how she got inside in the first place, JMM confessed that he had left the back door open after dark while he went upstairs to work on his stamp collection.