The Lone Wolf on Balcony #14

Day 19-Humor

What was the funniest thing that happened to you this year?

Oh jeeze, I managed to get myself in quite a few shennanigans over the course of time. In retrospect, this scenario seems worrisome rather than funny, but looking back on it, I can't help but laugh over the circumstances. For the sake of knowing that you really had to be there in order to see the humor in the situation, I'm going to tell it from a third person point of view. 

It was an usually warm late afternoon for that Tuesday, even though the semester was only in it's second or third week. A had been hard at work trying to get a good chunk of reading done, but arriving home close to four o'clock almost every day made it difficult to not want to do anything but rest. 

"I need a break," she murmured, grabbing a gatorade out of the fridge. Upon seeing her open laptop, she decided that this might be a good time to sit down and work on her blog for a little bit. She hadn't had much time because of all the running around that needed to be done for classes, along with getting slammed with a boatload of course work after Labor Day weekend. 

She sat down and proceeded to write, but something felt odd about it; the room was too dim and her phone felt like a distraction.

Why not sit on the balcony? A mused. She thought it be best to enjoy the warm weather while it lasted, since it was probable to be eighty degrees one day and fifty the next. 

A sat down in one of the patio chairs and proceeded to write about the latest happenings and perks of living in a one bedroom apartment. Everything felt peaceful, almost to the point of being idyllic. She looked out onto the street nearby and felt a tingle of appreciation that caused her to shiver. I really am blessed, she thought. 

She looked at the clock on her computer and realized it was five thirty; she had spent almost an hour and a half avoiding homework, and didn't want to risk falling behind so early on in the semester. Deciding that the blog post could wait, she gently set her laptop down on the adjacent chair in order to open the door. 

Except it wouldn't open. 

Jingle. Jangle. Push. Pull. Bam. She tried several times, but nothing seemed to work. 

"Ok, this is weird." A had enough trouble keeping the door closed from the inside, so why would all of the sudden automatically lock? 

Maybe there was someone else in the building that could help. Her front door was locked, but she'd been told by friends that you could use just about any key to get into any apartment building. 

Apartment building. Not an actual apartment. 

The predicament that A found herself in was more annoying than terrifying. This hadn't happened before, so what exactly was wrong? She leaned her head up against the screen and tried to see if anyone else was outside. The guys upstairs were always making noise, so perhaps they might have a solution. 

But when she called out to them, no one replied. 

There was the option of breaking the glass, but A could already tell it was pretty thick and didn't want to risk hurting herself. 

"Don't panic. Stay calm. You can handle this." 

The knot in her stomach tightened when she realized that she had purposefully left her phone on the couch, so not to be distracted while writing. 

The sun began to slowly sink over the apartment buildings across the street. "Shit, what am I going to do now?" The idea of being outside all night made her feel rather uneasy. 

Her computer was halfway out of battery, but it was the only communication device she had. Logging on to Facebook, she first messaged some of her her friends in hopes that one of them would know what to do. In the meantime, she noticed that her Mom was available to chat. 

Mom, I'm in a bit of a situation. I need you to call the landlord and have him come over here to help me.

They chatted back and forth to try and figure out how she had managed to not only lock herself out her apartment, but on her balcony, no less. 

By that point the sun had gone down. It was getting close to six thirty, and who knows how long she would be stuck. 

Just then, she saw headlights directly in front of her. Her best friend, J had gotten her Facebook post and agreed to drive over and make sure everything was OK. 

At the sight of each other, both the girls automatically broke out in laughter. 

"What in the heck happened?" J asked through fits of giggles. 

Nearly close to tears from laughing so hard, A did her best to relay the predicament for what felt like the umpteenth time. 

"Good lord, woman, only you would do this." 

"And only you would come over and talk me down, even though there's not a whole lot you can actually do for me." 

The police arrived shortly after, along with a locksmith who wanted to charge fifty dollars in order to break it. A figured she didn't have much of a choice in the matter and was about to say yes when her computer bleeped with a Facebook message. 

He [the landlord] just called me back and will be over soon. Hang in there!

About ten minutes later, the patio door lock jiggled and opened. 

"Hallelujah!" was all A could cry out upon seeing the inside of her apartment, and J standing at the counter. 

Her landlord apologized for not letting her know that the door indeed did lock from the inside if you shut it all the way. Before giving her a hug and then leaving, J made sure that A put her spare key where she could access it in case something similar ever happened again. 

By the time everything had settled, it was close to nine o'clock. There was no way that A would get anything done tonight/ Quite frankly, she spent the night with a glass of wine and her favorite lasagna that had been sitting in the fridge. 

Needless to say, A doesn't go out on to her balcony without checking the lock Even more so, she doesn't close the door all the way whenever she's outside. 

In retrospect, it's not all that funny. But I do look back on it and laugh, knowing that I can add it to the list of crazy situations that I've gotten myself into while in college.