In the Night Last Night

I've just come from my neighbors' house, the young couple across the street. I went over to see if I could help her in any way. Just to lend neighborly support.

He answered the door. Surprised me, because he was the one on the stretcher, wrapped and strapped and loaded into the ambulance. After that, the fire engine left. After that, she came out of the house with a bag, got into their car, and followed the ambulance.

When I saw him--with his right arm in a sling--I said, "Oh." Then he told me he's fine. Sleep laundering at midnight, fell down the stairs, broke his arm, staples in his head, concussion. And he felt none of it. Remembers going to bed. Next thing he knows he is surrounded by firemen. Never walked in his sleep before.

They're fine, and thanks for my concern.

See. It's easy to tell. And it sounds pretty simple.

But when you're up at 1:30 in the morning and the lights from the fire engine and the ambulance are flashing on the walls inside your house, and it's dark, and it takes about half an hour for them to emerge from the house and another 10 minutes before the neighborhood is just dark again with no flashing lights, and you don't know what has happened in that house, and the world you live in makes you think many wild things--besides, it is the middle of the night--well, then you spend the rest of the night praying for your neighbors and feeling you need to go over and offer help.

So I did.