Thursday, August 21, 2008

New Neighbor Paranoia, Part II

The neighborly picnic came and went with nary a glimpse of my mysterious neighbor. (She'd called the landlords with her regrets; she was sick and knew that there would be small children present.)

A few nights later, I was nursing NS in the rocking chair at 1:30 a.m. after she'd awakened, crying emphatically. Through the walls came a sound of running water--a toilet? a shower?--and the bang of a door.

My weary gut gave a twist. Oh, no. She's finally had it with being wakened by a crying baby twice a night and is out for revenge.

An uneventful day or two passed. Then one morning I was chasing my nephew NA up the driveway. He was blubbering for his mama who had just dropped him off for a couple of hours with me. At that moment the neighbor appeared, about to get in her car. I seized the moment to march up, shake her hand and introduce myself.

"And this is NS," I pointed to the sweet baby on my hip. "She's the one you've probably been hearing at night."

"Oh, no," said the neighbor mildly. "They have babies upstairs, too, and I never hear them. Besides, I don't mind babies. That's how they are."

I blew an audibly relieved sigh and went about the day with a lighter mind.

3 comments:

  1. Aw! Your run-amok imagination!

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  2. i told you. how did you get so paranoid

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  3. that was me above. now if my sister were your mother, I would understand where it came from...

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