There are definitely perks of living on your own. Meaning, with no actual roommates and a whole bag of privacy. My sister is living with me, but she has her own room and we spend a huge portion of our time doing our own things, especially her being busy and all that. I like this sleeping arrangement better than the old times when we used to share a bed, a quilt, bathroom and sometimes even pillows (when we were wild in our sleep, we could accidentally steal each other's immunities.)
But, like any other things in life, there is a minor problem in this living situation too. Sure, it's great that now I don't have to wear a headphone when I watch movie at night on my laptop, and my sister doesn't have to suffer anymore from my various weird quirks and idiosyncrasies. But, sometimes living on your own may not be always ideal as well.
Like, I can drop dead in my room and nobody would find my body, until maybe 10 days later and the neighbours just started complaining about some weird smell. Or, they could find me with half my face gone already. Eew.
And not just that. A week ago I was home alone when my sister and cousin were out for a salsa class. Now this wasn't an uncommon occurance, and I was just minding my own business, browsing away and watching american soaps on the net when I suddenly heard a noise.
It didn't register at first, but then I heard it again, like a creaking sound. I stopped dead, and I turned down the volume of my laptop. My flat is in the second floor, so maybe it was just some noise from a Sunday's crowd outside. But the voice wasn't a kid's laughter or water splashing or anything these Sunday's crowd might make. The creaking noise sounds like a door opening, and then there was another noise of someone's movement.
I was freaking out on the inside by this time, but shockingly I was dead calm. I didn't scream or try to climb downstairs through my window. (To think of it, why didn't I?!! If there were an axe murderer in the house, I should have climbed down, heck, or jumped through the window, otherwise we would be talking about the half-face gone scenario.)
But I didn't do any of those things. I just sat there with my heart beating 100 times per second, if that's even possible. I knew it wasn't my sister because she would have called out my name, and I tried not make a sound, as it would give away my location to the intruder because well, he might have brought an axe and I would have made it too easy for him to use it!
['Ah, maybe there's noone in this flat afterall, let me just go out and try another floor. OH WAIT! There's a hopeless girl's voice from the BEDROOM over there!']
I mean, here's the thing. A girl of a certain age, living on her own...with no protection, not even a lock to the door! And no sharp object in sight! The only thing in my room I could probably use as a weapon was..I don't know, my bedside lamp? I foresee that wouldn't do much damage to Mr. Axe at all. Maybe my hair curler? Yeah, turn it on full heat and smack him with it right on his face.
However, I thought none of this at that time, and I did nothing, I probably even held my breath. I was sure the intruder could smell my presence (and fear) and pop his head sometime soon. I was mortified! After a minute (although it seemed like an eternity and more), there was still nothing happening, and I braved myself, tiptoeing outside and checking every room in the house. Noone. Mr. Axe slash Intruder was just all in my head, but holy cow, it scared the living shite out of me I almost wetted my pants.
After the incident, or rather, the non-existent incident, I mentally reminded myself to always open my bedroom door, at least during the day, so I wouldn't totally shut myself out from the outside world, and my sister would find me before half my face is gone.
I'm amused, that's the morale of the story? Shouldn't I be thinking about using a lock?? Getting something more useful than...a curling iron??
Or maybe I should check myself to a clinic, because I'm sure 'hallucinating', and 'paranoia' are not good. In whichever universe.