The Elusive Earl
Sep. 30th, 2012 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
todayiamadaisyI came into the kitchen about midnight last night, ready to make a cup of chamomile tea before going to bed, when I heard a male voice coming from outside. That's not particularly unusual; if the wind's in the right direction, I can hear my neighbours in their gardens. But it was unusual last night, because the voice was very clear, close by rather than carried over the fence, plus it was neither the time nor the weather to be outside.
Then again, my back neighbour likes to fiddle about with his motorbike in his shed, so maybe it was him. While I was waiting for the kettle to boil, I peeped out the kitchen window, just to see if the shed light was on. It wasn't. What I could see, though, was a man, standing at my back door, with his back to me. He was on the phone, just chatting about watching the football final, oh yeah, mate, good game, yeah, we'll be at the Gallery (a local nightclub) in a bit, and so on.
My first impulse was to open the window and suggest that perhaps he should go and meet his friend at the Gallery now rather than stand at my door talking about it, but a little voice in my head asked me, 'Have you locked that door yet?' I couldn't remember. I waited a couple of minutes and he still hadn't gone, so I decided to go out the front door, where I would be able to see which of my neighbours was still up. The very large fisherman who lives across the road would have been an ideal candidate for door-knocking.
I stopped to put on some shoes and a coat, then opened the front door. By that time, the rain had stopped and my visitor had walked back round to the front of the house and was standing under the security light, fully illuminated, looking out into the street. After a moment, he put up his arms and waved, shouting, 'Hey, Al!'. Then he ran down the street and that was the last of that.
I suppose he was looking for Al's house, walked up the wrong driveway, realised there was a problem when he found the door locked (as it turns out), then stayed where he was, out of the rain, while he called to find out where Al was? That fits. It was a trifle disconcerting, though.
Also disconcerting: being woken up at five-thirty this morning by a sparrow that must have got in through the cat window and thought that flying repeatedly into the wall was a good way to get my attention.
In other news, a woman sneezed on the back of my head when I was walking down the street today.
This week's random word:
22. Plain
What the rain in Spain falls mainly on.
In related meteorological news, in Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen.
Next week: joy
Then again, my back neighbour likes to fiddle about with his motorbike in his shed, so maybe it was him. While I was waiting for the kettle to boil, I peeped out the kitchen window, just to see if the shed light was on. It wasn't. What I could see, though, was a man, standing at my back door, with his back to me. He was on the phone, just chatting about watching the football final, oh yeah, mate, good game, yeah, we'll be at the Gallery (a local nightclub) in a bit, and so on.
My first impulse was to open the window and suggest that perhaps he should go and meet his friend at the Gallery now rather than stand at my door talking about it, but a little voice in my head asked me, 'Have you locked that door yet?' I couldn't remember. I waited a couple of minutes and he still hadn't gone, so I decided to go out the front door, where I would be able to see which of my neighbours was still up. The very large fisherman who lives across the road would have been an ideal candidate for door-knocking.
I stopped to put on some shoes and a coat, then opened the front door. By that time, the rain had stopped and my visitor had walked back round to the front of the house and was standing under the security light, fully illuminated, looking out into the street. After a moment, he put up his arms and waved, shouting, 'Hey, Al!'. Then he ran down the street and that was the last of that.
I suppose he was looking for Al's house, walked up the wrong driveway, realised there was a problem when he found the door locked (as it turns out), then stayed where he was, out of the rain, while he called to find out where Al was? That fits. It was a trifle disconcerting, though.
Also disconcerting: being woken up at five-thirty this morning by a sparrow that must have got in through the cat window and thought that flying repeatedly into the wall was a good way to get my attention.
In other news, a woman sneezed on the back of my head when I was walking down the street today.
This week's random word:
22. Plain
What the rain in Spain falls mainly on.
In related meteorological news, in Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen.
Next week: joy