More Funny Stories...

So tonight when I came home, I had quite an interesting experience.

I pressed the number on the keypad to enter the building. Strangely, as I walked inside, I noticed that the entrance to the basement was open and letting out a musty stench. It's usually closed and letting out that same stench. I stopped to listen for a moment, curious to find out what was going on. After realizing that faint Russian is even more difficult to understand than normal Russian, I resigned and entered the elevator, pressing the button for the seventh floor. When the elevator stopped, it shed light into an otherwise pitch black stairwell. Is this normal? I thought. Is it usually so dark in here? The answer was no. So, I whipped out my handy-dandy cell phone for some lighting (which, of course, was so meager that I could barely see my hand in front of my face) and held it down to the lock on the door.

While I was fumbling with my keys, I heard some shuffling behind me.

I froze.

What or who could possibly be behind me? If it's an intruder, how do I get out of this situation? I could run up the stairs...but to where? I could run down the stairs, but they're blocking the way. I could jump back in the elevator, but it's already closed and gone back down to the bottom. I could run into my apartment quickly, but it stinking takes me five minutes just to unlock the door...what do I do?

What else could I do? I turned around and peered into the darkness. As my eyes adjusted, I saw a hunched figure glaring back at me. "Kakoe kashmar," it said, which means "what a horror" or "how awful". New rule: Babushkie should NOT lurk around in the darkness.

She and I chatted for a minute, and I told her that I had heard voices in the basement, so I thought they were probably just working, and everything would be back on in a moment.

I turned back around to continue unlocking the outer door. Once opened, I stepped into the entryway for my neighbors and I share, but not before hearing something to my left.

Seriously? Again? I thought as I froze in place.

I let my eyes adjust to the darkness of the entryway and saw my neighbor standing there in her pajamas, peering back at me.

For the love of Pete, I thought, don't these people give any warning? GET A FLASHLIGHT!!!

My neighbor and I chatted for a moment, and I told her the same thing I had told the lurking babushka. She, in turn, asked me if I was a new tenant, and I reported to her my current living situation. Then she began calling to the floor above us for Vlad. I don't know who Vlad is, but I'm guessing he's a man who knows how to fix things. Because Vlad is a man's name...and the lights needed fixing?

When I finally got inside my flat, the lights had all been turned back on.

THE END.