Intruder in the House!!!!

It's after 4 a.m.
Ten minutes ago I almost had a heart attack.
The house is silent, not a sound except me and the keyboard and Ben
Harper quietly in the background. I've just finished reading Vi's
blog, and chatting, scanning pics, and getting stuff done. It's time
to sleep. I hear a loud noise downstairs. Something fell. The windows
are closed, there's' no breeze. What's down there? Violetta's
cockroach blog is fresh in my mind and I hoping it's a cockroach - I
can handle those. So I cautiously descend the spiral staircase,
switching on every light in the house as I go. I reach the bottom of
the stairs and hear a rustling noise and then scraping. There is a
plastic bag on the ground with some of the wrapping paper from mommy's
birthday gifts. Something is in there rustling. I'm hoping it's
something small and rodential, because it sounds too big to be
insectile, so if it's an insect, it's going to kill me. Tap tap tap
rustle rustle. My heart is now going at a rate of about 200 bpm... tap
scratch. I go back upstairs and knock on parents' door. This is too
much for me to handle alone. Or maybe I just want someone to know what
hapened when they see my devoured remains on the living room floor
tomorrow....
My parents are sound asleep. 3 sets of worried knocks later, I realise
that I am on my own for this one. Dad e, ever security conscious,
keeps weapons hidden around the house. We think it's a little
eccentric but tolerate it. I thank him silently as I pull out the
machete from the machete-hiding-spot.
I approach the plastic bag and use the machete to tap it gently. I
then realise that maybe I should open the door to allow the creature a
quick getaway. Done. I return to the last heard location and shake the
bag. Nothing. I know I didn't imagine it, so that means there's a
creature running around in the room. There's no furniture here, we
moved it out to the garage for the party and haven't put it back yet.
I see a movement to my right. There it is. The last thing I expected
to see, but I guess not unusual since we live near the beach.... a
crab. Just hanging out. I return the machete and lock the door. Take a
quick pic for the record, and later identification, and switch off the
lights and come up here.

I think it will scare my mom tomorrow morning :o)))))))

(Insert pic link here) (not as easy as I thought...)