Skip to main content

Creeped Out Right Now

On Sunday, I wasn't feeling well. So, Brian and I stayed home and finished up unpacking. A bunch of new neighbors have moved into the building and I have been keeping an eye on the backyard to see if they use it (they have kids and I am protective of my marigolds and tomatoes!). I looked out of the window and noticed that a chair of ours was gone. I told Brian immediately and we both shrugged, knowing that the chair was free anyways. A couple of minutes later I noticed that the chair had not been stolen, but moved closer to the building. This confused me. Brian and I had just been outside earlier, reading the paper and drinking coffee. So, a new neighbor must have moved it, right?

A little while later, I don't remember how long, I heard a funny noise in the backyard. I went to the window and I couldn't see anything strange, so I started to lift the screen to poke my head out. As I did so, a tall, lanky man walked away from our building, hopped on top of the wall for the construction sight and hopped another wall into another yard. I never saw his face. He was wearing a black leather jacket that looked like a bad 50's style knock off. He was carrying only a small, black plastic bag.

Although he looked suspicious, the fact that he wasn't carrying anything confused me. He creeped me out though. I told Brian all about it and we went about our business.

Monday evening, while we were watering plants in the garden, a man in a nearby building poked his head out. He wanted to let us know that he was robbed Sunday. I immediately told him about the suspicious man. The neighbor was gone at the time I saw the creepy guy. I told him about the small bag and the neighbor told us that only small things had been stolen. I gave the neighbor my information and told him that I was willing to talk to the police if he wanted, though I never saw the guy's face.

I feel terrible that I didn't call the cops when I saw the creepy guy. With all of the new people in the building, I honestly wasn't sure if the creepy guy was a friend of one of our new neighbors. Also, the construction workers hop all over that wall during the week when they work.

What bothers me most is that chair. Our neighbors probably didn't move it. It might have been the robber, trying to climb up to the fire escape, where our window was open. Or maybe he used the chair to climb up into the apartment that was robbed.

Brian and I now plan to lock our windows at night and when we leave. It's not that we didn't before, it's that we weren't that careful about it when we were only running out for a minute. We easily could have been at Walgreen's or any number of places. I am totally creeped out right now but a bit relieved that we weren't robbed Sunday.

Comments

Nicole said…
So creepy! There's no way you could have known, but gah...spooky. I wonder what small things the dude took? Seems like a weird approach, although I guess if he has to carry whatever down the fire escape it makes sense. Good idea to keep it on lockdown status and let your landlord and other neighbors know to keep an eye out.

Popular posts from this blog

Spareribs, Sauerkraut and Dumplings

For Valentine's Day this year I cooked a dish that reminds me of home like no other.  It's a family recipe that my Mom knows by heart and my Dad gets on special holidays. Spareribs, sauerkraut and dumplings: Here's my plate before I started inhaling it.     Not everyone likes it.  I didn't like it until I was an adult and came across a very similar dish in the Czech Republic.  I craved home-cooked food at the time and I instantly became obsessed with the dish. The tricky part about the recipe is that it wasn't really written down.  My Grandmother, Anita, wrote a copy for my Mom a long time ago but my Mom has since changed parts to simplify the recipe.  This is the recipe that my Mom told me and I adjusted on my own. For the Dumplings: These are the dumpling when they were boiling, as they start to get done, they float to the top of the water. 3 c bread crumbs (about a half of a loaf dried on a tray for a day and broken up in a food process...

A Place to Log My Progress

This blog has just been sitting out here for nearly two years without a new post. So, I thought I would put it to some good use and start logging my progress with some of my new hobbies. This is what I look like nowadays, blue hair and all. What have I been doing? I started jogging. It is very slow going and it hurts like hell. But it will be worth it.  I'm painting and drawing. I am not very good but I get better with each attempt. I figure that if I keep it up, I can only improve, right? I want to start writing fiction again. This one is arguably the hardest for me. Even though I am a professional writer and write for a living, it is different for me when it is fiction. I've signed up for an online class to try to get over that hump.  Also, I am always watching some horror movies. My goal is to start writing fewer reviews and more substantive content over on my other blog: www.horrormoviemaven.com .  Do you have any hobbies you have taken up recent...

Halloween Project 2009: Zombie Box

I love zombie movies. My first date with Brian, I made the poor guy watch Dawn of the Dead and Shaun of the Dead . A while back I saw a photo of a glass case that held a fake shotgun that said "in case of zombies break glass" (click here for my original inspiration). Of course, I wanted one. However, they were a promotional item for a videogame. Plus, the shotguns were fake, not at all useful if zombies actually were going to attack. I tried to see if I could buy one of those fire cases that hold fire extinguishers and fire blankets and just adapt it. Those boxes, it turns out, cost at least a hundred dollars. I decided to take matters into my own hands and build myself an emergency box to prepare for the zombie apocalypse. I bought a frame for a few bucks from a discount store and hand painted the glass: The objects surrounding the glass were part of my "cat deterrence system." Oddly it worked. Livia prefers to sit on my paper projects anyways. I built a...