Sunday, January 21, 2007

breaking and entering (my take)

my friend offered to sell me a brand new digital camera for 11Gs less the original price, to be paid in installments. it was, quite literally, "a steal," as you will soon read. for my accomplice's version, read her entry on mind journeys.

waited for the perfect opportunity and it came. during a lull in a wedding reception, i make my move. i borrow a getaway car and tag an accomplice who was only all too willing to join me for the ride.

armed with a map, we find our target without a hitch. a nissan suv sits in the garage, its engine, cold, i imagine. i knew that the tennant wasn't home. and yet, the lights inside the house were lit. hmmm... strange. i make a call to the landline. no answer. i ring the doorbell. no response. light taps on the iron gate and polite "tao po's" yield the same silence.

i was ready to turn away and throw in the towel. it's been too long; our companions might suspect something's up. i was all set to call it quits when my observant accomplice notices that the gate's unlocked. she has officially given up her claim of innocence.

i give the latch a light tug and it gives itself easily, as if welcoming us. my accomplice and i look at each other and enter the garage. without a word, as if by instinct, we separate: she towards the door; me, towards the service gate. all exits covered.

as i get to the service gate, surprise, surprise! the gate's not locked either. this is WAY too easy, i think to myself. nerves begin to set in. i struggle on whether or not i've gone too far, but the temptation of what i know to be inside the house wins.

i undo the gate and enter. another door is in plain view. another door, another door knob. i am almost sure that this one would be unlocked as well. my heart begins to race. images of a bloodied body race through my mind... and the bloodied body is mine! if i go too far, this might just be my fate.

and then i hear it. the hum of an electric fan in operation. someone's home! relief comes with a capital R! there will be no blood shed tonight. i tap the window next to the door and rouse the help from her slumber. once she regains her faculties and realizes that my voice IS real, she trudges to the door and lets me and my accomplice in without hardly asking me to show any identification.

she hands me the coveted package and we make our leave, back to the wedding reception where we pick up where we left off. our companions suspect nothing. and in the car, tucked behind the driver's seat, a brand new digital camera sits. it's mine. finally!