tempting fate

I Want This Apologetic Possum to Destroy My Life

Disaster can strike at any moment. We know this. It is not within our power to predict the form our future disarray will take, whether it be wardrobe malfunction, shark, person on Instagram who keeps liking your posts, or all three. However, if I could make such a choice, I would elect to have my life upended by a very apologetic-looking possum, like the one who recently went viral for trashing an Australian woman’s place of business.

On Monday, Bree Blakeman, a research fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra, tweeted about a confrontation she’d had that morning with a brushtail possum who’d apparently gained access to her office through the roof.

Blakeman told BuzzFeed News of the evidently bewildered marsupial, “It seemed resigned and, of course, a bit shy and scared. Going by the number of books that had fallen from the shelves, I think it must have tried to climb up the shelves to get up through the ceiling again a number of times.” Blakeman did her best to make her office hospitable to its new guest, explaining: “I gave it some water, a piece of carrot, and a few kind words before closing the door and calling the relocation people.”

But a hail storm delayed the possum’s removal, and by Tuesday afternoon it was still in the office. It was not until Wednesday morning that Blakeman emailed BuzzFeed to report the possum had simply found a way to leave on its own.

And just like that, the clouds part, life is again full of possibility, chaos flows from destruction to growth and is redeemed.

I Want This Apologetic Possum to Destroy My Life