breaking in...
April and I went for a walk this evening. I was ancy to get out of the house. I had been begging her to go camping under some a beautiful pine tree grove, but she is not feeling well, so we decided on a little stroll instead. It turned into a bit of a nightmare.
Before we left, I had my dog sam sam on her leash, keys in one hand and cell in the other. April stopped and said maybe it would be better to leave the cell in the house since it would die on the way anyways ... low battery. Sure, I said, and handed her the keys. We walked for maybe an hour or so, and returned as darkness was setting in. I patted my pockets to find and retrive the keys... except that both pockets were flat. No keys. I looked at April. Where are my keys? Do you still have them? She looked at me, astonished, and gasped. "No! I left them in the house." We stared at the house for a good long while, walking around it, trying to figure out how to break into a three (really four, if you count the roof)-story-house. Each level of windows was covered by iron grates, so there was no entering them. I seriously considered rock climbing from window set to window... but it was straight concrete ... a little stupid.
We set off for the landlord's house ... who happened to be out of town traveling. We sat with his wife and children while a daughter ran off to a telephone booth to call him and ask if he left the keys anywhere, by any chance. I devoured cookies and mint tea, famished. April was reacting very slow to everything, feeling rather ill, a sharp pain in her shoulder and no food since breakfast. The daughter returned. No keys anywhere in Agdz.
We raided their drawers for plyers, wire, flat-head screw drivers, anything that might remotely help and departed with the landlady demanding, "Do you hear me? If you don't get in, don't go anywhere else, come directly back here and sleep with us. Do you hear me???"
We walked past the local key shop, all lit up and locked.. now around 9pm. Banged on the door persistently. Rang the doorbell rythmically. All the windows in the house above were dark. No answer. We gave up and headed back to the apartment, I at this point almost wanting to not find any help... feeling the need to prove that I could break into my own house.
I revisted the rock-climbing idea... but 3 tall stories of concrete, with a few metal grates and ledges in between to help... seemed workable, until I got up to the first level above the doors, realized how the easiest parts seemed rather difficult, reconsidered the most sketchy parts, which were on level three... no holds, even standing straight up would hardly be able to reach the top windows... of course with no ropes, no holds, etc. I decided dying wasn't worth getting into the house. I decided to return again to the key shop, to pester every neighbor until someone found him. April was going to revisit the chain-looping-on-the-hook-inside-the-door-idea. I plodded off... and felt how weak my knees were, and my body tired and hungry. I felt a sudden urge to turn around and assist April with the chain hooking scheme. I turned immediately around, and quite frightened her when she heard footsteps tromping towards her in the darkness. I reassured her it was me.
Sam Sam didn't help, as she was lazing around, chewing on a bone, and every other minute bounding away yelping at some passing stranger in the dark. I kept running after her (she is the most disobedient, dense dog i've ever encountered, never comes, heeds my call, does what she pleases and takes immense pleasure in terrifying moroccans). We were using her chain, so I couldn't tie her up.
We tied a wire loop onto to the end of the cloth loop handle, and fed it through the three-inch grate at the top of the metal door. The latch had a hook that had to be pulled to the right to release. The door had to be pulled tight so that it would pull smoothly, and even then it required a good bit of force when I opened the door with my hands, the normal way.
For thirty or forty minutes we took turns holding the door tight and dropping the chain through the grate, listening, ear-pressed to the door to hear where the little wire was at on the other side, dropping, pulling up, dropping, pulling up... it seemed a fool's business. I sat on the ledge for a while pondering what I would do if we were stuck outside... both of us intending to travel the next day, her sick, no phone numbers, landlord, Antoine and Jess all not in Agdz, no money on me... I wasn't crazy about it all. But I was beggining to feel quite hopeless except for the sheer will with which the two of us kept trying. We're both resourceful people and neither of us could believe that it would be impossible for us to get in somehow... but our bodies were grown a bit weak and sore.
Finally I softly called to her - she at this point kicking around rocks in the vicinity, trying to come up with another plan. "April... come here. April... I think something is caught. Can you help me?"
"What!?" She cried, and bounded to my side... indeed something was caught. We alternated the pulling the handle and pulling on the chain... trying to pull sideways from straight above the loop, reaching through tight grates that were cutting our fingers. I bent my head down and prayed... Jesus, I really want in my house. Please help us. I pulled on the chain with all my might. April screached, staring wide-eyed into my face. I suddenly started with sheer terror, my heart pounding... at a darkness... a chasm of darkness slowly widening before my eyes. I cannot explain the terror, but it took quite a few moments for both of us to grasp that the door was silently, slowly swinging open. I screamed. She screamed. "April..no! The door, it's open!" We really could not grasp it... our emotions quite spent on this strange occasion, and stood in shock just staring at it as indeed the stairwell came into purview before us. We grabbed each other and screamed and jumped up and down, and screamed at the top of our lungs, literally dancing and hopping all about the stairwell. Sam Sam was quite startled at our antics and drew back, barking cautiously at us, a bit frightened and unsure what was going on. We just laughed and grabbed eachother's faces and hugged and jumped more.
We were in the apartment. We broke in.
Before we left, I had my dog sam sam on her leash, keys in one hand and cell in the other. April stopped and said maybe it would be better to leave the cell in the house since it would die on the way anyways ... low battery. Sure, I said, and handed her the keys. We walked for maybe an hour or so, and returned as darkness was setting in. I patted my pockets to find and retrive the keys... except that both pockets were flat. No keys. I looked at April. Where are my keys? Do you still have them? She looked at me, astonished, and gasped. "No! I left them in the house." We stared at the house for a good long while, walking around it, trying to figure out how to break into a three (really four, if you count the roof)-story-house. Each level of windows was covered by iron grates, so there was no entering them. I seriously considered rock climbing from window set to window... but it was straight concrete ... a little stupid.
We set off for the landlord's house ... who happened to be out of town traveling. We sat with his wife and children while a daughter ran off to a telephone booth to call him and ask if he left the keys anywhere, by any chance. I devoured cookies and mint tea, famished. April was reacting very slow to everything, feeling rather ill, a sharp pain in her shoulder and no food since breakfast. The daughter returned. No keys anywhere in Agdz.
We raided their drawers for plyers, wire, flat-head screw drivers, anything that might remotely help and departed with the landlady demanding, "Do you hear me? If you don't get in, don't go anywhere else, come directly back here and sleep with us. Do you hear me???"
We walked past the local key shop, all lit up and locked.. now around 9pm. Banged on the door persistently. Rang the doorbell rythmically. All the windows in the house above were dark. No answer. We gave up and headed back to the apartment, I at this point almost wanting to not find any help... feeling the need to prove that I could break into my own house.
I revisted the rock-climbing idea... but 3 tall stories of concrete, with a few metal grates and ledges in between to help... seemed workable, until I got up to the first level above the doors, realized how the easiest parts seemed rather difficult, reconsidered the most sketchy parts, which were on level three... no holds, even standing straight up would hardly be able to reach the top windows... of course with no ropes, no holds, etc. I decided dying wasn't worth getting into the house. I decided to return again to the key shop, to pester every neighbor until someone found him. April was going to revisit the chain-looping-on-the-hook-inside-the-door-idea. I plodded off... and felt how weak my knees were, and my body tired and hungry. I felt a sudden urge to turn around and assist April with the chain hooking scheme. I turned immediately around, and quite frightened her when she heard footsteps tromping towards her in the darkness. I reassured her it was me.
Sam Sam didn't help, as she was lazing around, chewing on a bone, and every other minute bounding away yelping at some passing stranger in the dark. I kept running after her (she is the most disobedient, dense dog i've ever encountered, never comes, heeds my call, does what she pleases and takes immense pleasure in terrifying moroccans). We were using her chain, so I couldn't tie her up.
We tied a wire loop onto to the end of the cloth loop handle, and fed it through the three-inch grate at the top of the metal door. The latch had a hook that had to be pulled to the right to release. The door had to be pulled tight so that it would pull smoothly, and even then it required a good bit of force when I opened the door with my hands, the normal way.
For thirty or forty minutes we took turns holding the door tight and dropping the chain through the grate, listening, ear-pressed to the door to hear where the little wire was at on the other side, dropping, pulling up, dropping, pulling up... it seemed a fool's business. I sat on the ledge for a while pondering what I would do if we were stuck outside... both of us intending to travel the next day, her sick, no phone numbers, landlord, Antoine and Jess all not in Agdz, no money on me... I wasn't crazy about it all. But I was beggining to feel quite hopeless except for the sheer will with which the two of us kept trying. We're both resourceful people and neither of us could believe that it would be impossible for us to get in somehow... but our bodies were grown a bit weak and sore.
Finally I softly called to her - she at this point kicking around rocks in the vicinity, trying to come up with another plan. "April... come here. April... I think something is caught. Can you help me?"
"What!?" She cried, and bounded to my side... indeed something was caught. We alternated the pulling the handle and pulling on the chain... trying to pull sideways from straight above the loop, reaching through tight grates that were cutting our fingers. I bent my head down and prayed... Jesus, I really want in my house. Please help us. I pulled on the chain with all my might. April screached, staring wide-eyed into my face. I suddenly started with sheer terror, my heart pounding... at a darkness... a chasm of darkness slowly widening before my eyes. I cannot explain the terror, but it took quite a few moments for both of us to grasp that the door was silently, slowly swinging open. I screamed. She screamed. "April..no! The door, it's open!" We really could not grasp it... our emotions quite spent on this strange occasion, and stood in shock just staring at it as indeed the stairwell came into purview before us. We grabbed each other and screamed and jumped up and down, and screamed at the top of our lungs, literally dancing and hopping all about the stairwell. Sam Sam was quite startled at our antics and drew back, barking cautiously at us, a bit frightened and unsure what was going on. We just laughed and grabbed eachother's faces and hugged and jumped more.
We were in the apartment. We broke in.
posted by Rachel Beach | 6:11 PM
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