It Was a Dark and Stormy Night . . .

Do you remember the Disney cartoon that started out "It was a dark and stormy night . . ." in a rather ominous voice?  It may have been part of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  I can't remember, I just remember the raspy/ominous/not too scary because of course it's a kid's cartoon/but still kind of scary with the thunder behind it voice.  And the words. So, now that the stage is set:

Thursday night was a dark and windy night (because it rarely storms here, but you get the idea).  By 4:10pm, all of my office colleagues had left and it was completely dark outside.  So, I'm in a room that normally holds nine people, all by myself, in the pitch black dark.  Then, I hear a ticking sound . . . tick, tock, tick, tock.  I never knew there was a ticking clock in our office - it's never quiet enough.  This quite unnerved me so I sought out other human companionship.  Going downstairs, I found my friend and chatted with her for a few minutes.  She graciously offered me a lift home so that I wouldn't have to walk home in the dark.

On our way to the car park, I commented on how scary my office was when it was empty.  And we talked about how sometimes we creep ourselves out.  But, I was fine.

After she dropped me off, I enjoyed a leisurely evening cooking supper, walking to the store to get groceries (in the dark), and preparing pimiento cheese for the chili lunch the next day (that's a whole other story).  I was fine.  But I still locked the door tight as quick as I got back to the flat.  But, I was fine!  Until about ten o'clock.

As I went into the spare bedroom (now that my flatmate is gone I have an extra) to get a kitchen roll, I heard it.  The front door creaked open.  And then the clincher . . . "Hello?"

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!  I slammed the cupboard closed.  Then I grabbed frantically for something, anything to serve as a weapon.  My hand landed on the feather duster.  I took a firm grip on the feathers - the "rational" thought being that the plastic part would hurt more - and slowly advanced toward the bedroom door ready to do battle.  I flipped on every light as I passed it - no intruder friendly enough to say "hello?" was going to stand a chance of hiding with me on the hunt.  As I got to the front door it was still locked up tight, but my heart was racing, so I proceeded to do a thorough search of the flat just to be on the safe side.I'm not really sure what I thought I was going to do with a duster as my weapon if I actually found anything.

Fortunately, as anticipated since the door was still locked, there was nothing to be found.  Except a crazy lady wielding a feather duster and a fear of going to sleep.  So in the name of slumber, I placed a table across the door to further deter anyone that might want to enter my flat during the night.

Needless to say, I should never talk about creeping myself out lest it become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

P.S.  I think that I have finally rationalized that it was the flat next door where the speaking was.  And if anyone in my entire building opens a door, my front door rattles.  Now that I have a good explanation, I've decided I don't have to move.  Although, I still keep the table handy.