Long Story Short
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scardeylocks
I had a very girly experience last night. I got scared.
A word of advice to the lone, drunken men sitting on my street randomly at midnight on a Friday night: Do not creep out lone women walking their pets. Seriously. It's just, like, really scary.
Hunter does this new REALLY REALLY cute thing where, whenever we take Bailey for a walk, he comes along. He starts out behind us, then creeps up to walk alongside Bailey. He butts up against her with his head and weaves around our feet. It is, and I am being serious, the CUTEST thing I have ever seen. When she stops to sniff and pee he leans against one of our legs. Sometimes he suddenly runs ahead of her and tries to get her to chase him. Sometimes he'll randonly pounce on her butt. He stays within a few feet at all times and steers clear of the street. Uh, most of the time.
Last night I took Bailey for her last walk at midnight. It was dark and late but I couldn't get tired. No Professor K apparently equals no routine and my body had no idea what to do with itself. I walked outside with her and it was beautifully dark and quiet - the only house on my street with lights on was my own. We reached the sidewalk and right behind us was Hunter. He had jumped through "his" window - we leave a screen open about a foot in one of our office windows so he can come and go as he pleases. So the three of us started down the hill toward the busy busy street that was not busy at all at midnight.
And suddenly a random man appeared in the dark. He had a small build and glasses so he wasn't intimidating, per se, just odd and startling. He asked, "Are you walking your dog and your cat?" I am a sucker for pet chat so I started talking to him. Bailey, being Bailey, growled low in her throat when he got a little too close. She wouldn't go near him even when he got down low and put his hand out. Hunter, being Hunter, walked right up to him and let him rub him and pick him up. It was fine, really, but every time I started to move on he would keep talking. And he didn't seem to really hear anything that I said, and he was definitely messed up in some way. It was one of those situations where I kept thinking that I didn't feel safe. I think most women have been there.
I finally said, "We're going to move on now" and we did. I was looking behind me a bit, just to be sure. I was on edge but still wanted the pets to get their walk.
We got to the dark non-busy/busy street and Hunter walked right into it. A car came suddenly around the corner, not too far away, and he froze. He just sat there in the middle of a lane and watched the car come toward him.
I said his name insistently, normally he comes, but he was paralyzed. I put my hand out and tried to say his name calmly, not scream it, but he wouldn't move. P> The car slowed down and had to stop as I reached into the street to grab him. He slunk toward me and when he was close enough to the curb the car kept on. I was completely freaked - a strange guy had spooked me and my cat had almost died.
I kept walking but looked behind me every two seconds all the way home. And when I finally got home I looked in every single closet, even behind the shower curtain, and then I locked all the doors and windows. I put the cordless phone next to my bed, just in case, and settled in to watch a movie and try to get sleepy.
It amazes me now, in the broad daylight, how easily I was frightened last night. I was fucking SCARED. I told my mom about it today and she said, "That's not stupid at all, whenever your father goes away I suddenly hear noises in this house that I haven't heard in six years of living here". What is it about the presence of a man in your house that feels so secure? I'm never scared when Professor K is home. And reasonably I should not have been scared last night - if Bailey is anything at all she is a good watch dog. She barks at the slightest noise and assumes everyone is evil and trying to kill me.
She looks annoyed because she's waiting for me to finish the annoying typy thing I do and PAY ATTENTION TO HER.
5:23 p.m. - 2005-07-16
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------