i remembered today was bin day so I might as well bring the bin back in (the bin is usually collected around 9am).
I stepped out and suddenly realized neither of our cars nor my motorbike were in the driveway. weird - my first thought was that they were moved to let the bin collection. but nobody else could move it, and they've never had to be moved before, and besides the bin was always kept at the end of the driveway, so nowhere near where the cars or bike would interfere. still, I thought, I should go get the bin back anyway, and think about the cars and bike later. I stepped out onto the driveway and looked for the bin. there were no bins about - neither ours nor the neighbours. now that I paid attention to the neighbours' houses, I realized something was weird. there was no car in the neighbour's driveway either. in fact the entire layout of the area was wrong, even though the houses looked exactly like they should. I looked at my own house and it was wrong too - it was like a mirror image! the door was next to the left edge of the house when it should have been along the right edge!
the house had a name plate next to the door. it was a similar size to mine, but was a completely different design - the house number was wrong, and the street name was etched into it too - it was something similar, but a little different (I noticed the name and remember it, but am not going to put the name here on my blog 😂).
I decided something was definitely wrong and I had to ask someone. I looked around and nobody was nearby. there was an unfamiliar family at the house 3 houses ahead on one side. on closer observation it seemed like more than one family, so I decided not to disturb what must be a social gathering. opposite that house was another house, and as I was looking around I saw the door open. as I walked towards it an unfamiliar lady stepped out.
I realized my helmet and earphones were still on and my music was still playing, so as I walked towards her I took off my helmet and tapped my earphones to pause the music. strangely enough, the music didn't pause. I had reached the house by then, so I took off the earphones.
to my utter surprise, the music continued despite my earphones being off! I held one of my earphones close to my ear to check if music was indeed coming from it, and I could hear some sounds - but that was different from the music I could hear! and the music I could hear wasn't coming from somewhere else - it was literally music coming from my ears, as if from earphones, even though it wasn't!
I collected my wits and apologised for interrupting the lady, and explained that I seem to be lost, and asked her if she lived here (it didn't strike me at the time that someone leaving their house alone probably lived in it!) but before she could answer another lady stepped out as well, with a couple of kids I didn't pay attention to. she was joined by the other lady as she replied that yes she did live there.
I explained that I'm confused as I'm trying to get to x (my address) and this street looks very similar but is different. both the ladies were confused, as my address sounded very similar but was obviously different, and they didn't recognize me either. I told her my house was in a corner at the very end of the street and overlooked a playground. I pointed to the space on this street where my house would have been, and that's when I noticed what was wrong: the house I had just left from was adjacent to where my house would have been if it was my street. I noticed that the space that should have been my house was instead a covered parking space for two minibuses! one of them was a schoolbus, in fact. and then I noticed that the space beyond the two buses was a rock wall - and when I looked up along the rock wall, it was the side of a very high hill! so high, and so steeply cut, that the houses next to the hill seemed to be at risk of landslides/boulders, etc - very unsafe!
meanwhe the ladies were discussing which street overlooks a playground nearby, and concluded that while they weren't very sure, it was probably just a couple of streets away - but they pointed in the direction of the hill and confirmed it was on the other side of the hill.
this worried me. I only had my cycle, and the hill was massive - would I be able to cycle all the way to my home? the ladies reassured me it's not as steep as it seems from where we were looking, and it's literally around the corner - walking distance! I considered leaving my cycle there and walking, but then I'd have to get back and take it later, and I wasn't even sure if the ladies were right about my street being nearby. best to retrace my steps and try to find my way, I thought.
I thanked the ladies and was about to walk back towards the house where I had left my cycle, when I thought I heard the doorbell ring. that's weird, why would the doorbell ring when I'm outside? but the music was still playing too.
the doorbell rang again.
this time, I opened my eyes.
I was in bed.
my bedside dock was playing the music I could hear all this while.
someone was at the door, ringing the doorbell.
I ran down so quickly I almost tripped down the stairs.
Shruti was at the door. I opened it for her.
the first thing Shruti said to me was "where's our bin"?
I was so shocked that I had to check outside and make sure our cars and my motorbike were still in our driveway 😳
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