It's been 4 years since we moved into our house. We love where we live and we're glad everyday that we made the decision to move to Sydney's south. It's just a typical residential street with neighbours in every direction, even where the waterfront view is supposed to be.
Something, however, is weird.
Our next door neighbours (on one side, not both, for that would be creepy enough to move out) are practically invisible.
Since moving in, I shit you not, I have seen them less than a dozen times. In fact, if I really thought about it, it's probably more like 8 or 9 sightings. Way less than Big Foot.
During the 4 years, these neighbours have had two babies. I made the awkward effort to visit the first one and I did not glimpse that child for at least another 12 months. Our windows are only a few meters from each other, but I never heard that baby cry. Ever.
I've heard the second baby cry on several occasions, but have never seen it. I say it because I don't know if child two is a boy or a girl.
We see the neighbours on the other side at least once a week, usually loading into our cars in the mornings. I see the neighbours across the street almost daily, sometimes twice a day, so in sync are our activities. But low-talkers to our left? Never.
I do not think something sinister is going on. They seem (from the annual encounters we've had) like decent, normal people. Their child (the 3 times I have seen her) seems perfectly happy and they even went out of their way once to tell us we'd left our car's headlights on. Thanks friendly neighbour!
Strangely, I can only deduce that their times of residential departure and arrival are COMPLETELY different to ours. So different that it's uncanny. They never leave home between 8 and 9am on a weekday, never arrive home around 3:30pm or around 6pm and they obviously put their garbage bins out at 3am when we're usually asleep. Usually. (Once a year or so, husband and I forget we're not 20 anymore, go out, get blind rotten drunk and roll home around 3am, but clearly that's never on bin night.)
It doesn't bother me; I'm not upset that we haven't forged a lifelong friendship (especially since they don't own a pool!) but I just simply think it's weird.
Do you?
No comments:
Post a Comment