Things that go squeak in the night

I have a problem with my new apartment. There is something living under the floor. I've been pretty lucky so far. Everything I read about South America before coming mentioned the large amount of cockroaches, and thus far *knock on wood* I haven't seen a one. They probably can't handle the altitude. At first I heard the pitter patter of 4 little feet scurrying beneath my own feet. I wasn't too happy about it, but I kind of ignored it- until I went to bed. While lying in bed, the scurrying sounds 3 times as loud. And then it starts squeaking. On Wednesday, I told my landlord about it. He said, "I'll talk to the Chinese." The Chinese being the people at the Chifa restaurant below me. (Note to self: Do not eat at this particular Chifa restaurant.) Last night, I didn't hear anything for a good long while, and was actually beginning to think that maybe the rat (or whatever it may be. Oh, dear. What if it's a bat?!) had already been caught. Then the squeaking started. And how. It was so loud I was convinced Templeton had to be in the apartment. It actually sounded like a puppy whining, but I know I'm not that lucky. I was afraid to get out of bed to go to the bathroom, and was really wishing my light switch wasn't on the other side of the room.

In the light of day, I scoured the floorboards, making sure there weren't any holes big enough for Mickey or Minnie to crawl through. There weren't. (And in the black of midnight, my imagination has conjured up images of a rat straight out of The Princess Bride.) Although if I ever do find two beady little eyes staring back at me, I'm sure my screams will be enough to jumpstart my landlord- who lives a mere 20 yards away- into action.