Happy Halloween!

Ok, since it is Halloween, I have a little story… was just interrupted by a little cute bear and bumblebee…. It touches a little on my October 12th post:

“5:20am. At work. Headache. Weary. I am a rotten employee. I actually used the sauna here for the first time ever tonight. I was cold so I decided it would be a nice way to warm up… it was. This place is very shining-like. A big upscale condo building with old fashioned decor. I am a glorified security guard/concierge with free reign of the place. Sometimes I watch TV in the exercise room, play pool in the billiards room etc. They dress me up in a suit and black silk tie … ehh maybe it’s rayon. Anyway, at night this place is kind of creepy. I don’t like the west wing hallway on the first floor. I’ve worked here for 3 or 4 years (all while a student) and I have known three people who have died living off/in that hallway. It always seems colder than all the other floors (even than the other wing on the same floor) and the light at the end of it always seems unusually bright. It is the only one I don’t walk down when I am checking for damage. Just got a shiver. ANd there was also that one time……..”

I will now describe that one time. (Cue scary music and deep, ominous laugh.) At the very end of that long hallway, right beside that strangely bright light used to live an older widow, Mrs. Yves. Aged somewhere in the range of 50 to 60. She had endured a long battle with cancer before she died earlier this year. She was a proud yet very kind woman, who always walked with a cart in front of her filled with documents or groceries. I think it is because she needed the assistance to steady herself but didn’t want to get a walker so soon. Every evening, she had a little ritual of walking the first floor hallway, going from her apartment to the other other end and back again. I always knew it was her because her little metal cart squeaked and had a characteristic sound. Out of all the other concierges here, I think I was her favorite. She often came in late, (I do most of the night shifts here) and I always offered assistance when I saw her come in through our parking garage. Last Christmas she gave me a bottle of good red wine. The staff here knew that during the summer things were gradually getting worse for her, doctors were making more frequent housecalls, more visits from her sister etc. One night this summer, between the time of 3am and 4am on a Monday night-Tuesday morning shift I was walking all the hallways of the building on an interior patrol. I remember feeling a little nervous doing that patrol, which is fairly normal though, this place really has a bizarre feel to it in the middle of the night. ….Interrupted again, a little lion….. Ok, so I am patrolling. In this building the hallways get longer as you get closer to the bottom, so I usually start at the top and work my way down, floor by floor. When walking down a corridor, hallway or narrow, long path do you ever get a sense of dread at what could be behind you? I do, and it never helps when you look back and nothing’s there because as soon as your eyes are forward again, you feel another chill and immediately want to look back again…. I got down to the first floor and was experiencing this emotion, but with a grim determination not to look back and walk at a slow pace. I failed, I looked behind me…. and there was Mrs. Yves. REALLY CLOSE. I yelped loud. She really scared me good. I hadn’t heard anything, she had somehow just gotten really close, cart and all. She told me “I can’t sleep, I need to walk around.” I thought “She is probably in pain.” and felt sympathetic. She asked me if I would have tea with her in her apartment. Now this is an unusual request, but I knew she was dying and felt bad for her, so I tentatively agreed. We went to her apartment and she made me Apple Cinnamon tea, which I enjoyed. Her voice was hoarse, and seemed somewhat strained, but she talked about how much she appreciated what the staff here and me in particular, did for her, as well as how her husband had died 5 years previous but had made enough money in real estate to allow her to live in such a nice building and atmosphere. I said my goodbye and wished her well, and finished the rest of my shift without event. A few hours later when my supervisor John arrived, I mentioned to him my encounter with Mrs. Yves with the intention of getting an update on her condition. I can’t remember how he said it and how our conversation went because it was so stunning, but what I do remember is him saying to me “Mrs.Yves died last Monday.” (!!!!!!) ……….. I was so shocked I couldn’t even argue.. I just told him “nevermind…. yeah, I meant last week.. this happened… ahhh… “. I later found out that the apartment was supposedly mostly empty when we had tea together there, her younger sister had moved much of her things out throughout the week… (I remember it being totally furnished..) Anyway…. the new people who live there are really nice…. they actually smile ALL the time. I find that creepy too.

Despite the cheery greeting, I am not enjoying things so far. This is by far my favorite holiday and I am stuck at work for both tonight and Sunday. I was able to book time off last year, and had an excellent night. See below: I’m the cow. (at the Richmond St. bar, The Ceeps)

2025 me here: Another college age picture lost to time. I remember that cow costume though.

It is so beautiful out tonight too, temperature typical of June. I love this time of year. Hate being here. Left some pretty random comments on a variety of Xanga pages tonight. Haven’t been myself… A bundle of tension and anxiety. Maybe it’s all the candy I am incessantly eating…