I hope that any Americans reading this page (if I should be so lucky!) aren't offended when I say that Americans weren't my most favourite nation of people the morning after the night before. I was woken up by a group of American kids (the accent kind of gave it away!), shouting and running around outside.
Usually I wouldn't mind, but it was 7.30am on a Saturday and I had a hangover! (now that's a surprise!)
I forced myself to get up a few hours later: well that is, to move to the kitchen and drink a load of coffee and water. Surprise of all surprises, I wasn't the only one with a dodgy head!
Things got a bit worse when the fire alarm went off! Now, some of you may be able to appreciate the fact that this fire bell was not a very welcome sound. It is such a shrill noise, it made matters ten times worse. We then had to walk from our flat on the top floor, down the stairs until we got outside.
Everyone was cursing and blinding, and then Emma Maesteg decided to honour us with her presence.
At this point, I think it would be a good idea to explain the layout of these flats: each flat consisted of 6 rooms and a kitchen, and each room had their own private bathroom, consisting of basin, toilet and shower (the emphasis on this word will be explained in a moment).
Poor old Emma felt really bad, and she told us that she thought having a shower would maybe revive her a little. If you knew Emma, you would know, that this is a typical Emma-ism. The little darling forgot to close the bathroom door. Emma didn't have enough strength to stand up, so she sat down in the shower, and the tired little mite fell asleep. The shower generated a lot of steam, and just outside the door was a smoke detector. So:
Emma asleep + steamy shower + open door + smoke detector = fire alarm
Luned Parry luned@gently.org.uk