Vivid imagination

Not sure if everyone thinks like me but a funny thing happened to me yesterday. Our printer was playing up because at least 2 of its ink cartridges were empty so I took them out and set off to Staples to get replacements. As soon as I got out our front door I could smell smoke; this was the trigger for my imagination to get going.

Between our door and the front communal door I noticed that one of the other house doors was open and that the smoke smell seemed like a paper fire. The same smell as when you start a fire outside for the BBQ with paper. There was no visible smoke anywhere and I could hear voices so I continued to my car. I started thinking when do you light a fire with paper and the only time I could think of indoors was when I wanted to light a candle and have no matches so I use a strip of news paper from the gas stove. But there is no gas in the blocks, only electric. By this time I was well on my way to Staples. As there is no gas in the blocks, someone must have deliberately lit the paper with a match or lighter, why would they do that? They must be deliberately trying to set fire to the whole block.

By the time I reached Staples, which is not far from here, I had the whole block in flames and Claire trapped inside our flat unable to get out the front exit as that’s where the fire was started from. I knew she couldn’t open the windows as they were so big and heavy and stiff and I had fitted window locks. The type you have to use a tool to unscrew it with. How would she get out?

My imaginary fire stopped when I asked an assistant to help me find the correct printer cartridges from the many hundreds on display in the shop. They seemed very expensive and I was hoping to find a cheaper pack containing all 5 cartridges that I needed as although only 2 had finished the other 3 were very nearly finished as well. The only multi pack available was the 3 colours in one pack so I still had to buy the 2 black ones separately. The whole set still cost over £50 and I said to the assistant that I might as well buy a new printer. Before she could answer my phone rang but I couldn’t see the number as my phone has not been working properly lately. I had been getting lots of calls from agents about potential contracts here and there and had a couple on the go that I might get an interview from so I thought I had better answer it. I put the packs of cartridges down and took the call. It wasn’t an agent but Claire, she said that there was a fire in the block and she was really scared.

I dropped the printer stuff and ran for the door telling Claire to get out as quick as she could and I would be home in a couple of minutes. My imagination carried on from where it was a couple of minutes earlier but got worse. What was real and what was imagination? I tried to recollect exactly what Claire had said on the phone whist getting into my car. I flew up the road and around the side streets avoiding all the traffic lights. I got onto the main road but now I needed to turn right and there were three cars waiting at the roundabout in no particular hurry. I switched to the left lane and accelerated over then around the roundabout in front of them; after all this was an emergency. Claire probably wouldn’t agree with me and say something like I always drive like this. I whizzed back into the side streets again avoiding the traffic lights but this time I couldn’t get too far as there was so much congestion ahead of me. There were flashing lights, fire engines and crowds of people ahead. I pulled into a space near the council offices and ran down the road past the library knocking old ladies and children out of my way. As I got closer I could see that there were four fire engines outside our block and the road was blocked off. This was decision time, should I run straight to the front of the block to see if Claire had managed to get out or should I run around the back of the block and look through our window if she was still trapped inside? I could try and smash the window if she was still inside. But I didn’t have anything to smash it with; decision made, run around the front first.

Claire had made it out the door and was standing near the front entrance. Phew! I could relax again, try and get my breath back and find out what had happened. I saw a police man amongst the fire men so went over to talk to him as by this time I was convinced that the fire had been started deliberately. Apparently it was a chip pan fire that got out of control so I went back to Claire who was talking to our neighbor from the flat above where our leaks had been coming from. There was also another guy that he knew from the top floor who said that it was the numpty from the ground floor that had caused it. Apparently he had not phoned the fire brigade but opened his window and climbed out making a run for it. It was Claire that had phoned the fire brigade. Shortly after I had left she could also smell smoke and went into the kitchen to investigate but nothing there. She followed her nose which led her to our bedroom which is at the other end of our space. The smell in there was very strong so she knew there was trouble and went outside our flat to have a look.

The entrance hall was full of smoke, just like in fires you see on the telly. There were 2 people standing near the door where the smoke was coming from with their head in their hands. Claire asked them if they had called the fire brigade and they said that they hadn’t so she rushed back inside for our landline phone and her handbag like most girls would. She phoned 999 and they told her to calm down and get everyone else out the block. By this time everyone else was rushing around screaming FIRE! anyway and the fire alarm started to ring. Once outside she rang me but I new none of this only my imaginary fire. The fire brigade turned up with a few minutes and smashed a hole in the flat door where the fire was coming from so they could get their hands in to unlock the door. It turned out the fire hadn’t really got going it was just lots of smoke. I arrived and as nobody was around went inside our flat to get my camera which I had just got back from the menders that day. I went back outside again and tried to get a picture of the firemen but the camera battery expired. Back inside again to search for Claire’s camera but I had to wait as firemen were around this time. Once the opportunity arose I was inside again but couldn’t find Claire’s camera so decided to look for batteries for mine instead. By the time I had found some, got outside and replaced the batteries most of the action and fire engines had gone.

By the time the alarm had been switched off and we were officially allowed to go back inside again we were late for our usual Tuesday trip to the cinema where it was my turn to chose. I made a bad choice and we watched Transporter 3 but at least it gave us time to unwind and have a couple of glasses of wine that we take in. On our return to the flat we noticed that the hole in the door had been boarded up. We knocked on the door to see if the occupier was alright and a young chap in his twenties answered. He said he was ok and invited us in for a cup of tea. We accepted and went inside to inspect the damage. There was hardly any damage at all which really surprised us, he could still live there and even cook there; the only thing he lost was his chip pan and front door lock.

Alex lives alone in his studio flat and works in Westcroft where until recently when he got his bicycle walked for an hour each way. His bicycle was parked by the side of his bed, I assume in case he woke up late. I don’t think Alex can smell as the first he knew of the fire was when his fire alarm went off. He was watching the tv and forgot about the dinner that he was cooking. Smoke was pouring out of his pan and because he didn’t have a lid decided to put a towel over it. Strangely the smoke got worse, so bad that he couldn’t get out the front door so he shut his living room door to stop the smoke going in their and hopped out the window. I started to get concerned when Alex said that this sort of thing had happened to him several times before, especially as he is our next door neighbor with his kitchen next to our bedroom. Sleep easy and don’t let your imagination run away with itself.