On Thursday evening, my husband and I decided to go out for a walk. It was around 10:30 pm and the weather was absolutely lovely. We walked to Matajer and sat for a light meal in a cafeteria thinking that since we were going to walk back, a small meal will not cause a lot of damage to our not so strict diet. The evening was lovely and the food was really good, so we took our time there. When we finally decided to head back home, a surprise was waiting for us. A not very pleasant surprise, I might add. We found the gate to the university closed! Frantic, I checked my watch and found it was 12:10 am. Yes! Of course the door would be closed. How could we have forgotten that!
"Right! No problem! We can surely take a taxi back home through the main gate (which is about 8 or 10 kilometers away). But did we find a taxi? No. In stead, we found two sisters from the AUS who found themselves in the same situation. The girls started to feel scared and begged us not to leave them alone in the street. We waited and waited for a taxi to come by, but none did! The girls' tension was increasing because they had nowhere to go. Being new here, the only place they could go to was the AUS dorm which would not let them in after 1 am. I got mad at them. What brings them out in such a late hour? I sure gave them a piece of my mind. I started telling them scary stories about what could happen to girls alone in a late hour. To make things worse, we began to notice a couple of cars that kept on driving passed them again and again. Well, the cars helped prove my point.
Then, my husband suggested that we walk to the university hospital which was really close. Maybe we'd find a taxi there. We didn't! Then I remembered that there is a gate between the university hospital and Medical College so I led the way to that gate hoping that we'd find it open. Thank God it was open. The Medical College was dark and scary but luckily we were a group of four. I used the darkness the the creepiness as the perfect settings for all the criminal stories I told the two girls to make sure they got scared enough not to stay out late anymore. I think I achieved my goal.
Another problem was lurking ahead. One last attack of panic. The gate between the Medical College and the university was locked!!!
The panic did not last for long, though! My husband found out that the gate lock could be opened from inside. And we were inside. He unlocked the gate, opened it, and let us out one by one much like thieves. We couldn't lock the gate after us, so we left it open.
We were finally inside the university. We walked really fast for different reasons. The girls wanted to reach their dorm before 1 am. I was speeding up afraid the university security would find out we opened the gate AND left it open. My husband was worried about our boys being home alone so late at night. Although I am the one who should have thought about the kids, I was preoccupied with images of prison cells and handcuffs.
Well! All's well that ends well. We reached our home safe and sound to find our kids were sound asleep and the two grils learned a lesson they will never forget (I hope).
