Mandi and I have a lot in common. We’ve been friends now for almost 15 years, so we’ve picked up a lot of each other’s tendencies. However, there are some things that have yet to change. For example: I love camping, swimming at the lake, river, etc. I love fishing. The idea of getting on a four-wheeler and plowing through some mud makes me giddy. The paranormal fascinates me. I’m actually a member of a group known as Central Arkansas Paranormal Society (C.A.P.S), and have been since 2005. Every single one of those things scares Mandi to death. She doesn’t do outdoors. She doesn’t do dirt. She doesn’t do ghosts. How we have managed to stay friends all these years is amazing, but I wouldn’t trade her for the world! If God ever meant for me to have a sister, it’s her.
I went on an out-of-town outing with my group a couple of years back, and asked that Mandi not deadbolt the door, that way I could get into the house and to bed once we got back into town. The outing lasted from about 2pm Saturday afternoon, until about 3am Sunday morning. This place was magnificent. Five stories (not counting the basement!) of empty, historical, dusty, cobwebbed spookiness. It was like an awesome Christmas present! We walked the halls and climbed the stairs, took pictures of this and that, and recorded everything. Finally, we were all starting to drag, so we thought it best to drive home before we couldn’t keep our eyes open to do so. I pulled up into the driveway, exhausted and glad to be home. My shower and bed sounded heavenly! I turned my key in the lock and pushed the door. And it opened a crack before stopping. Our carport entry door had a hotel lock on it. One of those bars that latched and kept the door from opening more than a few inches. Clearly, Mandi had forgotten to leave the door unlocked. No biggie. I called. No answer. I called, texted, called, beat on the door, texted, beat on the door, and called. That final call is what made me notice that my phone was at 1% battery. CRAP. I beat on the door with all I had, hoping Mandi would hear and come let me in. Rushy (Mandi’s husband) was out of town for a biker gathering, so there was no calling him to let me in. Finally, it happened. My phone died.
And that, my friends, is when my inner ninja kicked in.
I tried all the other doors. All of them were locked. Then I remembered that my bedroom window was unlocked! There was a small problem, though. My bedroom window was close to 10 feet off the ground. I looked around for a ladder of any kind. No luck there. I sat down to ponder my fate. I suppose I could sleep in the car until Mandi wakes up and sees that I called. THAT’S IT! THE CAR! My idea hit me all at once, and I knew then that one way or another I would be sleeping in my bed in short order. I got back in my car, started it up, and proceeded to back it into the yard, right up under my window. Now came the tricky part. I’m all of 5’1”, so reaching the window was a little bit of a struggle. Even more of a problem though, was hoisting my bigger-than-the-average butt up and into said window. I managed to get my head through the window. “MAAAAAANNNDIIIII!!!!!” I cheerleader-whispered, trying to keep my voice down so as not to wake her son Jaxon. After about 10 minutes of that, I realized that I was on my own. I heaved and wiggled, thanking God that no one drove by to see my hind end hanging out the window. I guess I didn’t realize just how far in the window I’d made it, because that next shove sent me sliding over my nightstand and into the floor. I decided the shower could wait til after some sleep. That made me tired!
My phone began ringing off the hook sometime that morning, and Mandi texted:“OH MY GOD I’M SO SORRY!! I HAD MY RINGER TURNED OFF AND DIDN’T EVEN HEAR YOU!”I one-eye texted her back:“It’s okay. I’m in bed.”Her response cracked me up.“Who’s bed????”To which I replied“Mine!” She came into my room, and flopped down onto my bed. When I explained to her how I ended up making it into the house, she burst out laughing. She wished she’d seen it happen, and even went so far as to suggest that I do it again, just so she could see how I did it!!
You know a friendship is meant to be when they can point and laugh at you and request that you repeat your debacle solely for their own personal enjoyment.
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