Cute little buggers, was my initial thought when I saw an opaque gecko with beady black eyes scurry across the ceiling of our room. I was entranced by its quick movements and ability to kill all of the mosquitos that dare fly into our breezy windows. I thought the gecko and I could live in harmony together. I wouldn’t kill it and it would kill all the bugs. A truly happy partnership.

That is until the sound of the gecko kept me from my beauty rest one torrid night. I awoke to the sounds of a dying cat, a rat in the rafters, or maybe some creature that I’ve never seen before? It’s clicky chirping echoed through the wooden beams of our hotel room. I was baffled, but stayed firmly and safely beneath the covers, and before long I soon fell back asleep. Not a mere hour later, the chirps echoed again and I was abruptly awoken. This continued to happen every hour until the morning light shone through the windows. I was now exhausted.

The following evening as I was reading a book and the sun was going down, I heard the clicks again. Not one to be kept from a good nights sleep, I tore the room apart looking for this little bugger. I chased it back and forth across the wall trying to trap it into a glass cup. I knew  I was exhausting the little guy because his movements got slower, until he finally gave up and was swept into the glass! Mission accomplished, I have captured my opponent! I let the little guy go free far away from my room and window and slept peacefully that night.

The next night, as we were getting into bed, I heard a faint chirp. I looked at my significant other and said, “Your turn, I got the one last night.” And the battle ensued.