Bat Signal
BAT SIGNAL – May 2, 2025 – Riverside, California, USA
Anna looked at her roommate, Genny, and asked, “So what are we gonna do? Check out the courtyard or walk around and look for something else?”
Genny responded with an indifferent look. They had faced the same question many times before. Every Friday night, their apartment complex’s courtyard turned into a party scene the manager liked to call Friday Night Freak. The quality and volume of the music highly depended on the designated DJ. Dancing was hit and miss. Some nights there were only a few gyrating exhibitionists. Other nights could see most of the courtyard transform into a pulsing mosh pit. Anyone who attended was supposed to bring food or drinks, but because the parties mostly involved poor college kids, refreshments were scarce.
“Who’s doing the music tonight?” Genny asked.
“No idea,” Anna replied.
Their third-floor apartment door was ajar, filling their front room with cool night air. The door opened to a stairway on the complex’s exterior instead of the inner courtyard, but they could clearly hear the beat of the music down below. Anna laid on the couch, intermittently scrolling her phone and a TV remote. Genny reclined in the one comfy chair in the room, her feet splayed in front of her and her head halfway down the chair’s back cushion.
“We sorta got dressed up,” Genny said, motioning to her favorite jeans and a figure-flattering top. “We can’t just sit around here.”
“I guess we can start with downstairs. Do we have anything to bring?”
They both looked toward their kitchenette and tiny dining table. “Nothing with an unopened package,” Genny concluded. “If anybody asks, we’ll say we’re not eating or drinking.”
Anna slowly rose from the couch and as she did, something gray flew into the room through the open door. It flittered around the ceiling, seemingly bouncing off the walls.
“Ah! What is it?” Anna screamed.
“A bird! I told you not to leave the door open!”
“Chase it out before it lands somewhere!”
Before either of the girls moved, the flying thing stopped at a corner and clung to the ceiling. It folded its wings and sniffed around like a curious rat.
“That’s not a bird! It’s a bat!” Genny yelled as she leaped from her chair.
Anna screamed again and fled toward the bedroom in back of the apartment. Genny slipped inside before Anna slammed the door behind her. They both shivered and squealed and brushed their shoulders to make sure the bat had not somehow attached itself to their clothes.
“Whatta we do?” Anna asked breathlessly.
“We can’t go back out there until it’s gone. We could get rabies or some other blood infection. We have to call someone to come get it.”
“I dropped my phone when I ran.”
“Me too.”
The girls looked accusingly at each other. Anna said, “Maybe it will leave on its own.”
Genny cracked open the door and put her eye close to the gap. “I can see it. It’s still there. It’s not moving. Maybe it’s asleep.”
“Here’s your chance to grab your phone.”
“I’m not going out there! It could be watching us, just waiting to attack.”
“Then I guess we either wait until it leaves, which could be never, or find some other way to get help.”
Genny closed the door and the girls took a long look at their bedroom. Their unmade beds were pushed against the left and right walls with a nightstand in between. Nothing in the room looked to provide any obvious rescue. The girls shuffled to the sealed window on the far side of the room that provided a view of the ground-level courtyard. Partygoers holding plastic cups milled around a set of large, portable speakers.
“Get someone’s attention,” Anna said as she jumped up and down and waved her arms.
“Hey! Up here!” Genny shouted as she followed Anna’s lead.
After half a minute of jumping, they gave up. Anna pushed against the window hoping it would open, something she had done many times before. “Why do they have to be stuck this way? No one’s going to pay attention unless they can hear us screaming. Anyone who saw us waving probably thought we were dancing or playing around.
“What if we spelled out a message?” Genny suggested.
“With what?”
“Look around for some paper.”
They searched under and around their beds and inside their closet and dressers but did not find even a scrap of paper. While she pilfered through their shared nightstand, Anna pulled out two flashlights her father had insisted she keep ready in case of emergencies.
“How about these? We could blink them on and off until someone notices.”
They immediately got to work clicking the lights off and on as they pointed them down at the courtyard. Genny had the idea of flashing S.O.S. in Morse Code, something she remembered from a movie. After five minutes, no one below appeared to notice or take them seriously.
Anna was the first to give up. “This is never going to work. We’re probably going to die here. That bat probably called all his friends and they’ve taken over the front room.”
As Anna imagined the worst, Genny had an idea. She went to her dresser and pulled out a Batman bandana she bought after riding the Batman ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain. “What if we hold up this?”
“What good will that do?”
“If we put a flashlight behind it, it’ll be like activating the bat signal. Someone down there will know what it means.”
“Who? Who’s going to think it means to come and save us from a bat?”
“Someone special will know. And what do we have to lose since we’re going to die anyway?”
They attached the bandana to the window using a roll of tape that had also been stashed in the nightstand. Genny aimed her flashlight at it, illuminating the batwing outline. At the same time, Anna continuously clicked her flashlight, trying to attract attention.
In the courtyard below, Julian and Foster had wandered over from the other side of the apartment complex. They carried a bag of chips to contribute to the food and drink collection. After dropping the chips on the designated table, and without gesturing or speaking to anyone, they gravitated toward a wall facing the DJ. They watched a cluster of people imitate breakdancing and longed to see friendly girls they might approach for a conversation, or better yet, girls who might approach them.
After seven fruitless minutes, Julian turned to Foster and said, “This is kind of lame. You wanna play Fortnite or something?”
As Foster contemplated retreating from the party, he restlessly looked up and saw the bat signal and flashing light in a third-story window. “Check it out,” he said to his friend, gesturing upward.
“What’s that supposed to be?”
“I dunno. Maybe they’re Batman fans. Or it could mean something. Like a signal.”
“A signal for what?”
“Maybe they need help. We could go see.”
Julian returned a skeptical look. “Go see if someone in the complex is sending out a bat signal?”
“Better than standing here. Maybe we’ll find something interesting.”
They both shrugged their shoulders and counted windows so they could find the right apartment when they approached from the outer stairs. As they walked toward their target, a sense of urgency and curiosity overtook them. They started jogging and arrived short of breath to find the apartment’s door open.
“Hello! Anybody home?” Julian called inside.
“Your door’s open!” Foster added.
“Hello! Anyone in trouble?” Julian shouted a little louder. He immediately felt awkward about asking the question.
A crack appeared in the door of the apartment’s back bedroom. Genny yelled, “We’re in here! There’s a bat out there! It trapped us!”
“Where is it?” Foster yelled back.
“Right above you!”
The boys looked up to see the bat still hanging in the corner above the doorway. They immediately stepped backward while attempting to look cool and unafraid.
“So, what do we do here?” Julian asked in a voice that only his friend could hear.
“Either we call animal control or take care of it ourselves. It’s just a little bat. We’d probably impress whoever is hiding back there.”
“I’m not messing with a bat without some protection.”
“Fine. Let’s go get some stuff.”
“We’ll be right back!” Foster yelled toward the bedroom. “We’re getting equipment!”
The boys ran all the way back to their apartment and put on the snow pants and coats they had bought for a ski trip. They added ski gloves, goggles, and helmets. Foster grabbed a broom. The only long defensive weapon Julian could find was a pool noodle. They quickly waddled back to the rescue scene, not sure whether they wanted the bat to still be there or not.
“We’re back!” Foster shouted. “Is it still there?”
“Yes! In the same place!”
“Okay, we’re going in.”
“Good luck! Be careful!”
The boys stepped into the apartment waving the broom and pool noodle. The bat finally seemed to notice them and launched from its perch for another circular tour of the apartment. The boys yelped and swatted with their weapons. The girls squealed as they watched through the cracked door. The bat finally had enough and flitted outside. Foster rushed to slam the door behind it.
“It’s gone! Looks like you’re safe! You can come out now.”
As the girls emerged from their bedroom, Julian and Foster removed their goggles, helmets, and gloves like they had slain a dragon.
“Thank you. That was pretty brave,” Genny said as she smiled and brushed back her hair.
“Yeah, you totally saved us,” Anna added sweetly. “We thought we were gonna be trapped forever.”
“We saw your signal and knew it had to mean something,” Julian replied smoothly as he unzipped his heavy jacket.
“I told you it would work,” Genny said to Anna.
The rescuers and rescued continued smiling at each other until an awkward “now what?” moment. Foster was the first to speak.
“I’m Foster. He’s Julian. We live on the other side of the building.”
“Genny.”
“Anna.”
“So, are you going down to the party? We were already down there, but could go back if you’re interested.”
“Is it worth it? Anything different happening down there?”
“Not really.”
“I’m kind of in the mood for a movie,” Genny said as if she had never had the idea before.
“I could go for a movie,” Julian quickly replied. “You have something in mind?”
Before Genny could answer, Anna said, “It’s gotta be Batman. Our place or yours?”
“Only seems right to watch it here,” Foster said with a laugh. “How about we put our coats away and bring back some popcorn? You pick a Batman version you want to watch before we’re back so we don’t spend the rest of the night arguing about it.”
“How do you know you’re going to like what we pick?”
“Hey, we answered your bat signal, didn’t we?”
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