Anthony and I got to sleep sometime after midnight only to be wakened by a horrific scream in the alley out back. The screaming kept on going followed by a man yelling and the woman still screaming bloody murder. (Well no those weren’t her exact words, but it really sounded bad.) There was also a dog (obviously big) barking loudly. The. Whole. Time.

Anthony decided to grab some pyjama pants and run outside to see what was happening. He didn’t take a phone, nor shoes, nor shirt, but went outside and yelled at the couple to see if everything was alright. Mom was up on the balcony and asking if she should call the police, and a bunch of people from the front of our complex came out back to see what was going on. I grabbed some clothes and went upstairs to get the phone that was working so I could call 911 if needed.

The view from the balcony was kind of strange. A number of people were outside in various states of dress, what turned out to be a police officer with a police dog, a couple of plain clothes police officers and unmarked cars, and a woman who was tracked to a garage alcove in the complex behind us after allegedly stealing something. The police officer with the dog was yelling at the bystanders to calm down “She did a thief,” or something to that ungrammatically correct effect. So we had in our alley a “police incident.” It was very loud and frightening (the woman sounded like she was being assaulted,) and a big burst of adrenalin for the second time that night.

I tell you waking up to a woman screaming like that is very very disturbing. I can only thank god that Aidan slept through the whole thing.

Getting back to sleep was difficult. Not only did we have the after effects of the adrenalin push, but it stayed noisy and confusing in the alley for quite a while. About ten minutes after Anthony got back inside (fully admitting that he really should have put on some shoes and brought a phone) it got quite loud outside again. The woman yelling “You have already told me my fucking rights. I don’t want to hear them again.” The police officer(s) obviously telling her again. The paramedics doing something or other but not using the siren. Again I say thank god Aidan didn’t wake up.

I suppose there are several pieces of good news in this scenario.

1. Anthony wasn’t hurt and now realizes that if you go out to help a screaming woman (he did stay far away and ask if she needed help) you first put on shoes and bring a phone.
2. Aidan didn’t wake up.
3. Anthony finished listening to his audiobook since he didn’t get back to sleep till after 3 am.
4. I realized once and for all that I do not want to be a police officer. (Not that I was actually thinking of changing careers.)
5. It gives my mom a good story to tell when she gets back home.
6. I got to use the word “allegedly” in a grammatically correct manner, I think. and
7. It makes one hell of a blog post.

(Cross posted at Left Coast Mama.)

Here’s what Gwen was referring to (from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “Once More With Feeling”):

The setup: The town of Sunnydale has been stricken with song. Everyone breaks into show tunes, for the simplest of things. The Scooby Gang is sitting around the Magic Box trying to come up with reasons why this is happening (in song, of course). Anya, with a well documented dislike of bunnies comes up with the following….

One of the things that books don’t tell you about is just how much you will enjoy certain moments. The first time they sit on their own. The first time they stand. The first word.

The abject terror they feel when confronted with electronic bunnies.

So, there we were last Wednesday night at a friend of Lynn’s. Lynn was back in town from Depot (ever so briefly) before shipping out to the Creston detatchment to report for duty. Lynn, of course, is Aidan’s Godmother and had bought him what she thought was a cute little bunny rabbit. Aidan has lots of bunnies (of the stuffed variety), which is a reflection of his mother’s predilection for them. None of the existing bunnies, however, move independently.

This particular bunny (which, like all of his stuffed toys, remains unnamed) moves. Its ears quiver, its nose wiggles, its nose squeaks, and it takes a few hops forward every once and a while.

So, Lynn, Aidan and Gwen were in the living room of Lynn’s friend (Dina). Hardwood floors and lots of space. Anyway, Lynn put the bunny down on the floor some distance from Aidan, who was on his stomach, crawling towards it.

Then she turned it on.

It did its little dance, hopping, and quivering, and squeaking.

Aidan looked at it and slowly backed up. I’ve never seen him do this, crawl backwards as if that was the natural direction to be crawling. The bunny went through its cycle again, and this time Aidan …. um …. hauled ass. He scooted backward absolutely shrieking in terror, shaking with fear.

The poor guy. This is clearly a pivotal and traumatizing moment in life.

And we laughed. Well, not for too long, because someone had to comfort the boy (and Lynn, who couldn’t believe that such an innocent looking gift had gone so wrong). But, it was funny. America’s Home Video sort of funny.

Subsequent exposure to the bunny has not improved the situation any. He definitely doesn’t like it in all its glory, turned on and quivering and squeaking, etc., but he even doesn’t like it when it’s just sitting there looking cute.

He was crawling on the floor, came around the corner of the coffee table, saw the bunny there and broke down into almost hysterical tears.

It still seems funny … but we need to get him over this.

And I can’t believe that we need to get him over a fear of … bunnies…

*These* are the moments we remember. :>)

A>

In Aidan’s world, there is nothing more terrifying than this:

Seriously.