Monday Mischief: Breaking & Entering

I enjoy reading everybody's Monday Mischief posts but never joined in myself. How could I? We are always good, not mischievous at all. Well, it's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So how did we make it from being total angels to breaking and entering?

Blame it on Sandy.

One pattern, Jasmine's episodes typically follow, are upcoming weather changes. No wonder, then, that with Sandy on the way, Jasmine would get one.

Jasmine having an episode, beside panting and pacing around, also means that she keeps wanting to go out.

I think she'd prefer to spend the entire episode outside, but since they usually come at night, that's just not possible.

So we just go out and walk around some.

This time was no different than any other—out we went. It was raining and blowing but Jasmine doesn't care about such things. I propped the gate with a rock so it wouldn't close in the wind. When the latch closes, it is closed for good, at least from the outside. When it happens to hubby, if her stands on his toes and extends his arm over the gate as far as he can, his fingertips will reach the latch. Me, I am just shorter enough.

Jasmine and I made it a couple feet out of the gate, when I heard a clang and the all-too-familiar click.

Oh, no, please don't be locked! But it was …

Did I mention it was three in the morning?

There we were, locked out of our home, in the rain and wind, in the dark, at three in the morning.

I did try to reaching the latch. Over the gate, through the planks … it was not going to happen. I looked around whether I might find something to pull up to the gate to stand on, no such luck. I looked around whether I could find some small rocks to throw at the bedroom window and maybe wake up hubby. No such luck either. (The doorbell is broken and there is no way knocking on the door would every wake him up)

I got a stick and tried getting at the latch that way. Big stick over the top, small stick between the planks. Nope.

Now what?

Nobody was around, everybody was sleeping. There was only one thing left to try—breaking in. Just like I saw in the movies, I threw myself against the gate. It actually didn't hurt as much as I thought it would.

But the gate had no plans on giving in.

The fence, on the other hand, did. So here I was, trying to hold the fence as to keep  the whole thing from falling over, throwing myself at the gate.

Jasmine was helping by keeping a look-out.

I was wondering what would happen if the cops showed up. Would they help us get in or would they arrest me?

Eventually, with the latch all bent, the screws came out and the gate opened. After I shook off the adrenaline, we went on the walk we originally planned, why not, we were already wet enough anyway.

Hubby replaced the broken latch and we now have a wire going over the fence so it could be opened from the outside without breaking the whole thing down.