close call
Saturday, 4:15 pm: I return from work to find our garden gate flung open. The gate was not open when I left that morning. I check the yard and then enter the house cautiously.
4:45 pm: Our landline is not working. I unplug and re-plug all the phones in the house, but despite my technical savvy, the phones do not magically work again.
5 pm: I use my cell phone to call the phone company. The man on the other end of the phone puts me on hold so he can run some tests. When he returns he says, “Yup, your line is at 0.” I immediately think of the garden gate. “Like… dead?” I ask. “Yup,” he says cheerfully, “I’ll send a technician on Monday afternoon!”
5:10 pm: I wonder if the criminal who cut my phone line will let me use my cell phone to call 911 before bludgeoning me to death.
5:15 pm: I can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. I think of that movie When a Stranger Calls, but then remember that our phone line isn’t working, which will make it difficult for a nefarious criminal to call me from within the house.
5:20 pm: I ensure all curtains are open. I don’t want to pull one back later in the evening only to discover an axe wielding murderer reflected in the window as lightning flashes across the darkened sky.
5:30 pm: I walk the yard, surveying the perimeter of the house, checking for cut phone lines. I can smell marijuana coming from my neighbour’s apartment and calculate the odds of a drug addict plotting my demise in order to steal my snack food.
5:45 pm: I email 2.0 and tell him not to attempt getting in touch via landline as the line is dead/possibly cut. He is on a golf trip and responds with an “Okay!”
6 pm: I keep myself busy loading costumes into the car for the next day’s show. I deposit my pay cheque at the bank. I make myself a salad (possibly my last), and then begin watching episodes of Forensic Files which, admittedly, may have been a mistake.
8:30 pm: I decide I shouldn’t be nervous just because 2.0 isn’t in the bed next to me. I don’t need a man to protect me.
8:45 pm: I begin making a list of people who might want to murder me. The list is surprisingly long.
10 pm: I fall asleep watching Forensic Files, clasping my cell phone.
4 am, Sunday: I wake to the sounds of young men rearranging construction pylons on my street. They sound merry, and in their intoxicated state, incapable of organizing a murder.
6 am: Good news: I awake, unmurdered.
6:15 am: I note that the construction pylons on our street have been arranged in an extremely methodical fashion, and realize that the young men were absolutely capable of organizing a murder, and possibly, my freezer.
5 pm: I return from a long day at the theatre to find 2.0 standing at the door. I’m happy to see him. We unload the costumes from the car and catch up in the living room.
movita: So, the phone’s still dead, but I’ve got a repair dude coming tomorrow afternoon.
2.0: (picks up the phone and listens) There’s no dial tone!
movita: Right. I emailed you about that.
2.0: Yes, but I didn’t know the dial tone wasn’t working!
movita: That’s what “our landline isn’t working” means.
2.0: Honey? (he seems uneasy) I think you’re going to be angry…
movita: What did you do?
2.0: I might have unplugged something in the basement.
movita: Like our landline?
2.0: (heading for the basement) I’ll be right back!
I hear things being moved around. I hear our phones happily beeping as they are connected to live lines again.
2.0: (back in the living room) I guess I shouldn’t have unplugged that stuff!
movita: Or maybe you could have mentioned the unplugging of that stuff when I emailed you last night.
2.0: Yah. (pausing) We should probably go out for dinner, right?
movita: Right.
2.0: At least we know I can use the phone to make a reservation!
movita:
.
I just love a happy ending. And one where no-one was murdered! Men.
This was the happiest of endings. (I mean, I got dinner…)
Wow – what a story. I’m glad you are okay and alive.
Oh my – I would be panicking as well!!! Glad nothing bad happened but over all a very humorous story!
yiKes:::had me goin’ there.
lub you!
teri
x x x
Lub you too! xox
Oh my goodness…I was right there with you on pins and needles. Hope dinner out made up for his blunder 🙂
A juicy burger and fries can go a long way…
I can’t handle the suspense
Handle it, woman. I live on the EDGE.
Bahahahaha! He’s going to have to take you out for dinner for awhile, and possibly buy you a whole set of fancy Le Creusets to begin to make up for it!
Boys…
hahahaha! Men!
Dear Movita,
We have become aware that you have in your possession of a list of “people who want to murder you”.
How quaint. This interests us.
Unless you release this list in its entirety within 10 business days, we shall start to once again rearrange construction cones in your neighborhood in increasingly disturbing patterns, ranging from the whimsical to the downright naughty.
To underscore the fact that we mean business, we want you to understand that we quite prepared to adopt the extreme tactics of rendering fiendishly accurate depictions of hoo-has and tallywackers.
have a nice day,
The Illuminati (HRM / West Annapolis Valley Chapter)
Given that nine members of your Chapter are on the list, it seems silly to type it up…
PRAISE JESUS YOU’RE NOT MURDERED! and seriously?? SERIOUSLY??? /sigh Boys….
this was riveting. i’d never seen that trailer before and then i finished reading your post and to my amusement, i realized that i had been holding my breath! oh the spell you cast on us…
My husband has done this, too! It seems he is always unplugging routers and such which effects the phone. And of course, he travels all the time. I never turn on the TV because my mind wanders into places it best not go! But you survived. AND got dinner. I’ll have to start working on that angle!
First of all, I’m glad you weren’t murdered. Secondly, isn’t When a Stranger Calls the scariest movie ever? It gave me nightmares for months. The original is way creepier than the remake. haha, I can’t believe 2.0…or men in general for that matter. They’re like the least helpful people. Nate would totally do this, except that he would never have been in the basement trying to fix something since he would have sent me to do it! I sure hope he bought you dinner 😉
I’m totally in awe of your courage! Pretty sure I would have locked myself in the bathroom with a huge box of Krispy Kremes (what – I’m a stress eater OKAY?), a wooden spoon (for protection) and my cellphone for the entire night! I hope you ordered lobster and a super expensive bottle of vino for dinner – dude owed you big time!
Bathroom. Why didn’t I hide in the bathroom?!?!
This. Is. PURE. Hilarity. Also I would have peed my pants from terror on multiple occasions had this been me. Very casual.
4am and 6am: SO hilarious!
He owes you.
Great story, scary how the mind can take control, or maybe I mean my mind. Happy week-end!
Clearly, I have NO control over my mind!!
Holy shit, I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time. Thank you, Movita! This was absolutely brilliant. 6 pm, 845 pm, 6am and 615am are my favourites. Because my husband is paranoid, our home is like Fort Knox. We have metal bars on everything. I can barely even get in. Time for you to get the metal ‘n barb wire up! And 2.0 owes you, big time.
So relieved you lived to tell this hysterical tale! But, really, salad as a last meal?
I’m with Nancy, in the comment above. Holy shit.. I laughed HARD. You crack me up !
Best.blog.post evvvvvah ! Okay, okay, your posts always rock out loud … but this one really put me over the edge and made me pee my pants. TMI ?!
Love the comment from @ignorantbystander too !! Sooooooooooo funny !!
Kisses, my friend !
It puts the lotion on its skin, or it gets the hose again……..
Thanks for ensuring I’LL NEVER SLEEP AGAIN, MATT.
As they say in Doctor Who … some days EVERYBODY LIVES. Yay.
OMG – totes adorbs!! I just happened to find your blog as I sit here bored at work and took a slight gander at the Tall Tales section. I love your sense of humor and writing style. You’re my kind of peeps.
You’re MY kind of peep!!
You, my dear, are a nut job. A delightful, hilarious nut job. Xoxo!
IT’S A LIFESTYLE.
I had to quit watching Criminal Minds because something I find myself alone at home and kind of freak out. I had my adult son come babysit me one night after watching a CM marathon.
We watch Criminal Minds every week.
It’s a mistake EVERY WEEK.
Oh my gosh, I was just talking to my husband about that movie a few nights ago on our evening walk. I couldn’t remember the name of it. I never did get over watching that one. Hubby told me that we need to stop walking after dark as I nearly turn myself out and scream profanities at the slightest sound or movement in the bushes resulting in my hubby nearly having a heart attack and myself then in fits of laughter. never a dull moment.
Whew! Glad you survived, and relieved that Murder Couple wasn’t around.
Note: when you think you are going to be murdered, watch some classic musicals instead of horror!!! (and stay away from the shower…)