A Baby Bat, Bat, Bat.

When I was a kid, I loved to read.

Who am I kidding? I still love to read.

Anyway, when I was a kid...I loved to read. I loved As Long As I Love You and The Secret Three and Big Sarah's Little Boots and Stella Luna. I loved a lot of books, but I think I can clearly point to Stella Luna as the book that piqued my interest about the world. I remember asking questions about the world (maybe not earth shattering questions, but definitely big questions for a 5 year old): Would a bird really raise a baby bat as it's own? Is it okay to be different? Why do bats love fruit so much?

So I embarked on a journey to answer all my questions, born of literature! Eventually, I found the answers...

I guess now is a good time to tell you that Stella Luna also instilled within me a deep love for bats. Maybe it was because I was so happy that this bat found acceptance or something. Maybe I just really thought all bats were misunderstood (actually, I do feel this way...). I researched bats constantly. Big bats. Small bats. Fruit bats. Vampire bats. The benefits of adding bat guano to your garden. What to do with an injured bat.

I loved looking at bats at the zoo. Or watching them fly over-head at night.

So, you can imagine exactly how thrilled I was when I found one trapped in my hallway the other day. He landed on a little ledge and peeked at me, pretty much telling me he needed me. You don't understand how excited I was! I dropped my trash bags and I said (out loud) "I am in a hallway with a bat. I will save you, bat!"

So I ran upstairs, got a stool and a bowl and a cloth and ran back down to save my precious bat friend. He was such a good sport, like he knew I was going to make things all better. He just let me put him in the bowl (and then he started baring all his teeth and making noises...until he found the orange I left him as a treat). I took him upstairs and for a good 5 minutes all I could do is say "I have a bat. In a bowl. I have a bat in my possession, in a bowl. Right now, I am interacting with a bat."

He and I shared an hours worth of adventures, and then I took him to the wildlife rehab center where they will take care of him until spring, when he can be released again.

But in my hour with my bat I wondered - how had he gotten into my hallway? Was he raised by birds? How did that bat know I wanted to meet him so badly?!

I thought for a while about how my crazy love for this little bat had all been born in one afternoon, curled up with Stella Luna on my lap. I hadn't ever truly thought about the influence books can have on people until my interaction with Hector (my bat). How different might things have been if I'd never read that little book? If I'd never learned to love bats through reading?

It may seem ridiculous but reading Stella Luna as a child literally changed my life! It really makes me wonder how the other texts I encounter are constantly changing the way I interact with the world (is this transaction theory?)

...and it's a beautiful, amazing and terrifying thing.