by Suzy Watts

Created on: January 31, 2011

The Partition Wall

Life in bedsitter land was usually a mix of loud neighbours and strange smells.  Oriental cooking was okay if you were the one preparing and eating the food, but second-hand aromas were not very appetizing.  I blocked out these background distractions, and settled down to an evening with a good book.

A noise started to break through my concentration.  A small, tinny sound.  Faint and distant, it soon grew in intensity and regularity.  I tried to ignore the irritation the noise was causing, but I was fighting a losing battle.  I carefully marked my place in my book, and got up to make a cup of coffee. 

The boiling of the kettle distracted me from the noise for a while, but as I settled down to drink my coffee and rejoin my gripping story, the sound re-surfaced and began to annoy me.  Should I put on some loud music?  Should I put in my earplugs?  Should I go and find the culprit and complain? 

I finished my drink, picked up my door keys, and went to investigate.  There were ten bedsits in the converted house I lived in, so I stood on the landing and tried to gauge the direction of the noise.  It seemed to come from the room next to mine, so I headed along the corridor ready to give somebody a piece of my mind!

I knocked on my neighbour's door - no reply.  I knocked louder, still no response.  I called out, knocked some more, then stood back to think what to do next.  Then I heard a new noise, a mumbling sound.  I knocked again, and the mumbling got louder, more distinct.

I tried the door handle, and the door opened creakily.  I peered round the room, which was in darkness, except for the faint glow of the street lighting.  I could see a shape on the bed, and this was where the tinny noise and the mumbling sound were emanating from.  I moved cautiously towards the bed, and then switched on the bedside lamp. 

There on the bed, in a frilly pink negligee, gagged and handcuffed to the brass bed head, was my neighbour - all 6 foot and 15 stone of him!  I un-gagged him and he told me the key to the handcuffs was on the table, and I was able to release him from his captivity.  He started to explain the circumstances, but I asked him not to bother.  The sight of him in his baby dolls was explanation enough!

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