Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts
By Alyce Wilson
June 13, 2008 - (BLITEOTW) Found Friday the 13th
Few of us are fond of Friday the 13th, which is often regarded — unjustifiably, in my experience — as an unlucky date. However, according to these finds, maybe somebody really is having a bad day in my neighborhood.
The first is a note on a Post-It decorated with a pixie and flowers. It reads:
(L
+ I Secure
that Door) 10:45
am
J___
S___
A MAN
was in
the
basement.
Lock the basement Door. D____
Wow! Pretty bad day if I found this note! Imagine finding somebody in your basement. I've had nightmares about people coming in through unlocked doors, or not being able to lock them. After reading this note, I had to go downstairs and check my doors again! They were all locked, of course. The neighbor's dog has been barking furiously all morning. Some other dogs are, too.
Next was another note, on a torn piece of notebook paper. It reads: "I left my cell phone. You wouldn't come to the door. I'll call when I get to work."
That must be no fun, being stuck without any communication all day. Don't know where they left this note, actually. I found it fluttering around in the breeze. I noticed an open door nearby, which was strange. In fact, the neighborhood was unusually quiet.
The Gryphon left to meet with a recruiter to talk about securing more contract work. I asked him to to see if he could figure out what was going on while he was out.
On our afternoon dog walk, Una and I witnessed a traffic accident at the main intersection of town. One of the drivers seemed really drunk. He was looking really zoned, and he was just grunting incoherently. When a police officer arrived on the scene, he actually attacked him. Una and I kept walking, to get away from the nastiness. Maybe there is some truth to the superstitions about Friday the 13th.
When we passed the local grade school, I found a number of notes on the ground. In fact, I noticed a couple text books, too, dropped in the middle of the street, the pages flapping. Seems like it was an unruly day at school, probably because it was a Friday.
The first note was an exchange between two students. On the front, it read, "Why you get a detention?" And on the back, in another hand, it said, "because I was calling out why?"
I wonder what the student in question was calling out and why. Or is that what they were calling out, "Why?" As in "Why am I in school on such a nice day?" Or maybe why are the dogs howling like that, and why are there so many cars just parked in the middle of the street?
Another note also had a disciplinary bent, and it was, well, rather inclusive:
I will not hurt
Myself
Property
Others
Animals
On the way back, I found another item, this one a child's drawing, apparently. It was lying in a yard, next to some abandoned markers and a half-eaten PB&J sandwich, which I had to pull Una away from eating. The drawing seems to have started with a happy little drawing of a smiling person, then was covered with indecipherable scribbles and finally, the pressure of the pen ripped the paper.
I just realized that there are some words written on this drawing. In the upper right-hand corner, it says "found." Then, about a quarter of the way down, in the center, it says "although." Running perpendicular up the right-hand side, it says "ago" and "almost." Is this an older kid's paper that a younger sibling then drew on? Or was this all by the same child? And why leave a perfectly good sandwich in the middle of the sidewalk?
As we returned home, I noticed someone had left a garden hose running in their side yard, gushing water into the street. I knocked to try to get the attention of the homeowner, but no one answered. Further down the street, some kids were playing really roughly with a tied-up dog, which was whining and barking at them, seemingly terrified. I yelled at them to leave it alone, but they didn't seem to hear me.
The car accident still hadn't been cleared out of the street, and in fact, a couple other cars had clogged up the road. But I didn't see much traffic, so hopefully, it won't lead to too many troubles.
On our block, as I returned, I heard a car alarm sounding in the alleyway and someone slapping their hands relentlessly against a screen door somewhere. Perhaps that's why I found this last note. It reads, in a shaky hand, "No Knock gently." There was a piece of tape in the corner, as if it had been hung on a door. The paper, though, was lying in the middle of the street, where it had apparently fluttered. It was torn a little, as if a car had run over it.
The person who wrote this note, it seems, was probably really sleepy. They didn't even line up their words properly on the paper.
When I returned, The Gryphon was back already. He tells me he waited at the bus for half an hour, and it should have come by at least three times, but it didn't come by at all. What a strange day. I'm glad I don't need to go anywhere for the rest of it.
Now, if only those car alarms would stop so I could take a nap!
Moral:
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.
Copyright
2008 by Alyce Wilson
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