attic attack

i nearly died today. this afternoon i was home cleaning my apartment when i heard a strange noise upstairs. my windows were open (since it's 70 degrees here), and so i thought it was the strings from the blinds flapping in the wind. however, the flapping was followed by a thud, and then a crash. then the flapping started again. i went over to the stairs to the third floor, and this time i could hear the flapping better... it was quite clearly some winged creature, wreaking havoc in my attic. now, the attic is finished, with skylights and couches and lamps and many things to be knocked over. however, my greatest fear was that The Thing would come swooping down the stairs and dive at my head, tangling itself in my hair and pecking my eyeballs out. even worse, it could be a bat. sick sick sick sick sick. so, like any normal person would do in such an emergency, i started to freak out. (i just got shudders again thinking about it. oh gosh.) i was crouching on the stairs, holding a mirror at an angle and trying to get a good view of the third floor without actually having to venture up there, putting myself in grave danger. every time i thought i might be getting close enough to see something, the flapping got louder and i flipped out and ran back down the stairs. hence, my exploratory endeavors were failing, and there was no way i was going to go up there without proper eye protection. so, i called my landlord. he didn't answer. i thought about just leaving my apartment, but i had all these visions of wreckage and bird poop everywhere. and if it was a bat, it might eventually settle down, but i couldn't bear the thought of not knowing where it was. so, being the empowered woman that i am, i ran downstairs and got my neighbor. i made him come up and check out my intruder situation. he didn't have any luck with the mirror thing either, so he went up there, and then screamed a bit and yelled down to me, "it's a huge bird! don't worry, it won't hurt you!" i was unsure of this, so i cautiously climbed halfway up the stairs. a vase of flowers was knocked over, half my candles were on the floor, there was bird poop on my couch and on one of my chairs, and it had knocked my chess set over and a frisbee onto the floor. then i saw the bird, dive-bombing the window, trying to get out. my neighbor opened one of the other windows, and after a minute, it found its way out. i keep getting chills just thinking about it again! there was a bird in my house! i have no idea how it got in, but i'm glad it's out. sick!
well, that's my big story for the day. i'm going to chicago tomorrow, so don't expect much from me for a few days. adios.