dead rat

on our doorstep this morning.

My mother drew a sharp breath, hissed Witchcraft! and refused to let me go out through the front door, or pick it up and get rid of it.

Who put it there? Why? Mysteries. I've never seen a rat in our compound. And it clearly did not stagger to our doorstep under it's own steam and suffer sudden heart failure. It was carefully arranged, facing the door, mouth forced open to show it's sharp teeth.

Urrgh. There's something deeply malevolent about it. And frightening. Our home is in a compound of 6 town houses. In the 15 years my parents have lived there, of course there have been feuds, disagreements, conflicts - all the stuff that comes up between neighbours sharing resources and utilities. But as far as I know, no one has a particular grievance against us.

Where does one look up the message of "dead rat on doorstep"?