Someone is Trapped in the Attic!

The story I am about to tell is very reminiscent of stories told by one of my favorite writers....James Thurber. If you ever remember reading some of his tales like "The Night the Bed Fell" you will understand why the following tickled my funny bone.

The other night, my dear hubbby came home a little later than usual. I ate dinner by myself and decided it was time to settle down and watch TV. After all, it was the American Idol finale coming up, and I just HAD to see who was going to win.

During the half hour before the show started I kept hearing a muffled bang. Hmmmm....I guess they're setting off fireworks downtown for the local baseball game again. I put it out of my mind.

But I kept hearing it. And it was a weird sound...but again, I was convinced it was the fireworks display.

Now American Idol is on and you know how long they dragged that show out. And I started hearing the banging more and more. Now it started to sound like it was coming from inside the house. I would turn the volume down...and it would stop. (Always the way, isn't it?)

Then my dear hubby comes home and I tell him about it. "It sounds like someone is trapped in the house"....I say in half fear/ half exasperation. He looks at me like I'm nuts.

He opens the outside door to listen for a banging noise in the neighborhood. Maybe someone was having a party next door. Nothing.

We turn off the dishwasher and the volume on the TV. I hear it very low but he doesn't. Now I'm getting frustrated.

By now it is almost time to announce THE WINNER OF AMERICAN IDOL. I've been waiting all season for this.

The banging starts up again. "I hear it ......I hear it.....do you hear it?????" I holler. "It sounds like someone is trapped somewhere and is banging to get out!!!!!"

Then we do a cat count. Out of the three there are only two. Little Sissy is missing. Oh no...where is Sissy? Then I think to myself...that's a loud banging sound for a little cat....but.... maybe.....

My dear hubby shakes the kitty food container. She comes running out of nowhere. There she is!

The banging continues. It's not Sissy. (To her dismay she doesn't get any food either.)

I say...."it's coming from upstairs!"

My dear hubby says ....."OH THE ATTIC!"

My attention is still half glued to the TV....any.... second.... now . . .

The suspense is building.

Dear Hubby runs upstairs....opens up something ....where he is in the house I can't tell because I'm definitely going to find out who won this wonderful/annoying/dragged out contest.

I hear the banging really loud now. And then I hear him laughing. Hard.

And the next American Idol is......David.......


COOK!

And my husband is still laughing....and the noise stops.

He comes downstairs and tells me amid all of his laughter....

It was a baby swing we were storing for a friend that had "broken."

Magically it had started working again....and was banging against a piece of furniture.

Sigh. It was all over.

The American Idol build up and the source of the weird/scary noise had been discovered. All at the same time.

The only one that had been "trapped" was me.

What I like about James Thurber's stories is they are based on our human nature to immediately make assumptions and let our fears or paranoia get the best of us...until things are so blown out of proportion they become ridiculous....which, for me, always makes for hysterical reading.

And that my friends is my tale of "The Night Someone Was Trapped in the Attic."