The word intruder comes from the Latin word “trudere” meaning to thrust or push. Living in Malaysia has introduced me to a new variety of intruders that thrust and push their way into my home on occasion.
My favorite spot in my house is my living room couch that faces onto a wall of sliding glass doors that reveal the lush tropical environment that fills my back garden.
Sitting on the couch one afternoon, toggling between work and enjoying my view of bougainvilleas in full bloom and golden orioles flitting in and out of the red bamboo, I heard a scuffling sound to my left.
Irritated, I jumped up thinking my beagle had managed to get into the garbage yet again, when suddenly, I found myself face to face with a large, male macaque calmly perched on top of a cabinet eating the banana he had stolen from the fruit bowl in the kitchen.
Now, you may think monkeys are adorable, but I can assure you they are not when they bare their teeth and thrust their aggression at you.
They are also not adorable when they thrust their way into your kitchen gathering all they can hold and push their way back out, sitting just out of reach but within viewing distance. Taunting me as they consume their smorgasbord of pilfered vittles.
This is one intruder I prefer would KEEP OUT.