I live in a building constructed in maybe the 1930-40s, as many of the houses in my part of town. I love my apartment, with it’s roomy feel and big kitchen.
It has one big flaw though. The door. It’s thin, which makes it sort of a sounding-board out into the stairwell, and many sounds grow loud and resounding, which gives you a more private relationship with your neighbours than you might wish for.
My next door neighbour is an interesting existence. Looks sort of scary, but is very giving and considerate in a way. He was hospitalised this summer for double-sided pneumonia and came home rather worried. He’s a heavy smoker, and the doctor had given him some sort of verdict that he wouldn’t share, he just told me that it’s serious.
Since then, his smokers’ morning coughs have transformed into vomit. With screams. He knows we can hear him, and he apologised with “I assume you’ve heard me in the mornings”… I asked him what the doctors say about it, and he tells me they say its psychological.
My only guess then is that its fear of death that makes him howl in the bathroom on the other side of my bedroom wall, every morning at 06:15.
It has one big flaw though. The door. It’s thin, which makes it sort of a sounding-board out into the stairwell, and many sounds grow loud and resounding, which gives you a more private relationship with your neighbours than you might wish for.
My next door neighbour is an interesting existence. Looks sort of scary, but is very giving and considerate in a way. He was hospitalised this summer for double-sided pneumonia and came home rather worried. He’s a heavy smoker, and the doctor had given him some sort of verdict that he wouldn’t share, he just told me that it’s serious.
Since then, his smokers’ morning coughs have transformed into vomit. With screams. He knows we can hear him, and he apologised with “I assume you’ve heard me in the mornings”… I asked him what the doctors say about it, and he tells me they say its psychological.
My only guess then is that its fear of death that makes him howl in the bathroom on the other side of my bedroom wall, every morning at 06:15.
It can never be a good way to start a day.
5 comments:
gosh... I'm a bit lost for words, all I got is: strange and sad.
I must admit I also had a bit of a tiny, weird guilty laugh because just the other day I was thinking it would be nice to have a bit more of a relationship with my neighbours. I was standing outside the front glass doors fumbling with my keys. And my neighbour ran past me inside without offering to open the door, actually when he saw me he just started running faster and disappeared. It's just unnaturally private where I live sometimes. But there must be some happy medium in between your situation and mine...
I read this wild story once...sounds like a fairytale almost!
I liked the fairytale a lot! I'll try to get inspired to do it more her way.. :-)
p.s. a short time after you posted this I finally met some of my neighbours! will have to tell you another time :)
how is your neighbour doing? I still think about thim ...
Not doing better, from what I can hear..
Oh! Happy update!
My neighbour is a new man after checking into rehab before xmas.
Quit drinking, smoking and eating meat, and suddenly the morning habits are happy ones, and he's filled with joie de vivre! Sunshine story! :)
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