Friends

04 June 2017

PLAYING SAFE


I am a most security conscious person. Even when Joe was alive I was the one who double checked doors and windows, and still do. These days you can’t be too careful.
The last job of the day is to check all doors and make sure keys are in their rightful places, the last doors to check are at the front of the house.
I have an inner front door and an outer porch door facing the road, both of which need careful checking since they are the main entrances. Outside the bungalow there is a lantern light that goes on at night.
As you can see, the porch is narrow.  Not quite big enough to sit in even though it greets the sun and provides plenty of heat. Last night I checked both doors at around 10 o’clock, making sure they were both locked so I could sleep easy. I don’t go to sleep that early but I like to have good long read. By this time, Charlie was out and about in the garden or wherever it is he goes.
I drifted off to sleep at around 11 o’clock and the next thing I heard was what I thought was someone knocking on the inner front door. It was 2 o’clock. Jeez, I was petrified. Then I realised it was the inner porch door that was being knocked. Whoever it was must have broken a window to get in the porch.
I thought it better not to move for a while. If I went to the door I would be seen through the frosted glass. I waited, all was quiet. Still I waited, wondering what to do. Then I heard it, a very loud Meow.
I have never moved so fast in my life…. 
Charlie must have slipped into the porch when I was locking the front door and there he had to stay, from 10pm until 2am. No bed to lie on, just a cold tiled floor. And I never heard a peep. Daft thing is every night I check that he hasn’t slipped past me…. every night except that one. 
Valerie

26 comments:

  1. Our town-home always makes funny noises coming from our attached neighbors homes. Sometimes sounds like they are in the house. It can be very disconcerting, we always double check the locks and our security system.

    I can understand how that could be scary.

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  2. Joeh, I am more than careful now when checking Charlie's movements. Or so I thought. Normally I check the porch several times just to reassure my forgetful mind but obviously I need to do more to remind me.

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  3. Valerie, I am so like you in that I check and then double check my apartment door to make sure I have both locks on before I go to bed. And I don't know why I'm so paranoid about locking the door because I live in a high rise apartment building with a 24/7 security doorman. I mean, it's not like someone (like a murderer) could easily walk in the main door and then into the elevator up to the 22nd floor and find my unlocked apartment door and then KILL me - ha!

    But still, I always double check just to be sure.

    I've done similar things when I had my cat, like accidentally closing the closet door, forgetting that he was in there sleeping so that he was trapped in there all day long while I was at work.

    Have a lovely Sunday, my friend!

    X to you and Charlie

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  4. A bit of a scare there Valerie, so glad it was only Charlie. Always the way, just one time we don't check on things. Gregg always calls me the policeman's daughter as I do the last minute checklist every night. Garage door down, front door and back door locked, etc. one night I don't check and the garage door was left up, door(s) unlocked.

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  5. We have a long hall, going to the garage and a second bathroom. Gwennie has been going down that hall and taking a nap. The other nite I closed the connecting door as I do....and she woke up later wanting back in to the rest of the house....It scared me a bit as she was scratching.

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  6. Hi Ron, well, if I was a burglar I wouldn't want to go all the way up to the 22nd floor to do anything, let alone burgle. You can imagine that, with Charlie in mind, I am now extra careful. I check and recheck everything now. I was good at it before but now if they were doling out metals I would definitely get one.

    You too have a great Sunday. For me the day started beautifully weather-wise, but now it's cold and wet. I just hope it gives some serious pneumonia to all those who want to destroy our great cities.

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  7. Denise, it's good to know I'm not the only one. Although, in my defence, I did check the doors.... but not Charlie.

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  8. Katie, animals should tell us what they intend to sleep. Pity they can't, it would save a lot of hassle and heartache.

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  9. Oh my, well at least it was Charlie and not someone breaking into your house. I bet you were scared. So did Charlie then stay inside for the rest of the night?

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  10. Oh, I can't imagine how terrifying that must have been! So glad it was just Charlie. It's good to be security conscious. You never know these days. When I was growing up, I don't think we even had locks on our doors. My how times have changed.

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  11. Wow, I am glad it was Charlie, he must have been helping you lock the doors.

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  12. Hi Joe. Yes, Charlie stayed in and helped me calm down. I promised him (and me) it would never happen again!

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  13. Carole, you are right, locking doors was never thought of in the good old days. Now, we trust nothing and no-one.

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  14. Jimmy, Charlie is a great helper - sometimes! He does like to look out of the porch window, an opportunity that rarely arises because I don't let him use that door - not with the traffic and all!

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  15. Poor little guy, good thing it wasn't the dead of winter. I had a cat that once got trapped in between the screen door and wood door for quite awhile in the summer. I don't know how she got in that predicament but was very happy to have me open the door again to let her in.

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  16. kden, I just hope it wasn't hot in there. My porch gets very hot during the day but not at night.... thank goodness.

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  17. We also live in an apt in a mill building and on the 5th floor so not too much likelihood of any intruders here. That said, we do make sure to lock the door every evening and thankfully we only have one to check. Hope that Charlie has learned that sleeping outdoors on cold tiles is not too comfortable.

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  18. Beatrice, you are wise to check. I used to work for our Probation Service and it was amazing how many high rise blocks of flats were 'visited' by young criminals. I guess getting in them in the first place is where our security lapsed.

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  19. Strange noises at 2 a.m. would scare more anybody. Glad all turned out well...:)

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  20. Oh poor you and Charlie too. 😣 That must have been a frightening experience.

    Cats are so fast, you can never assume where they are. When I had 4 cats years ago, I found that out in a big way!😽🐱🐱🐱

    Glad you were both safe, that's what really matters .

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  21. TB, believe me I am more alert since that happened. Checking all rooms to see where Charlie is tires me out so it's a good job the bed is nearby!

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  22. Geraldine, I don't think I could cope with four cats, Charlie is enough. He teaches me enough lessons in a roundabout sort of way.

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  23. Phew! You scared me. :-) Good cat, it didn't even protest! :-)

    Greetings from London.

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  24. Hi Cuban, it is amazing that Charlie didn't protest, although I probably wouldn't have heard him if he protested while I was sound asleep.

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  25. He's keeping you on your toes, Val. You wouldn't want things to be boring, would you?

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