Rats? in my Darkroom Story

Funny Stories
by Michael Seewald

Mystery in my darkroom?

A few years back I made a 16" x 20" easel from foam core and placed it on a wooden crate down on my cramped little darkroom floor. (Starving artists, at least I was back then, must make do). I then reversed the enlarger on the base so I could project the image down from the table it sat on to the crate on the floor below. This way I could make the bigger enlargements I was starting to produce.

With nice jazz music playing in background, I'd be in my own quiet little world, working late into the night. One time I'd just placed a 2ź" negative in the negative carrier and, while kneeling on the floor by the easel so I could focus it, I stretched my arm up to reach the focusing knob. All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I was startled by something that scampered across the easel which was just a few inches from my stomach. I thought it may have been a giant roach, or maybe even a mouse. (I must say, I don't have a lot of roaches around, but I don't see many mice either.) But I figured it must be one or the other.

Anyway, for someone who thought they were tough I was surprised at how quickly I'd jumped in the dark. I envisioned this thing, whatever it was, running right up my pant leg to hide! Gross. In a split second I had turned on the lights and grabbed the closest weapon I could find, a flimsy 3' wooden ruler that would probably snap on anything swatted at.

With heart racing, I cautiously looked around the base of the easel, ready to beat to death any predator showing it's ugly head, but found nothing. I finally calmed down after making a complete and thorough search. Maybe it was my imagination. It was getting late (another 2 a.m. marathon printing night.) I turned the lights back off and went back to work.

After I turned the enlarger light back on to try focusing again the creature instantly re-appeared, running back across the top of the easel. I got a better look at the size, about 4 or 5 inches long, and man was it fast. I went through the whole process again, still cautious, heart pounding quickly again, and still with with the same results. I soon became less scared and more mystified.

How can this thing hide so quickly? Three times was a charm as it happened again, but this time I think I'd figured it out. I opened up the enlarger head where the negative was and discovered something. A baby moth no bigger than a knat had flown in earlier and had been flitting around on top of the negative, getting enlarged right along with it! So much for rats in my darkroom.