Fairly Normal People

-Chapter Three-

Andy darted towards the wall and melded into the shadows with the ease of an alley cat. He slithered across the wall and around the corner as he delved deeper into the barrage of noise. It felt like he was wading into an onslaught of sonic cannonfire. He looked up and down the streets. They were empty, all the lights were off and the whole area looked like a ghost town, though from his perspective it felt like a patch of contested no-man's land during the great war. He skulked past a sign and then peered around it to see the house was for sale and the tall thin silhouettes that lined the sides of the street were most likely the same. More surprisingly the building had apparently been sold. Andy would have liked to have blamed Mrs Applebottom's pleasant demeanour for the previous tenants' and owners' desire for a change of scenery but sadly it had become a rising trend in the whole area. The area was relatively free from miscreants and ne'er-do-wells that typically littered most streets at this time of night and that is what had driven the land rates up, meaning most people were in the market to sell and trade up, given the yuppies eager to build and skedaddle off to greener pastures (whether or not those were filled with awaiting predators ready to pounce). Or at least Andy hoped that was the case when it was more likely they were being forced out or worse scared out by richer people who wanted the land.

A cat, startled by a roaring snort, tripped over it's own legs and went careening down a wall and into a trash can with a resounding CRASH and followed it up with a startled screech. The snoring came to stop with an urgent snort, much quieter than it's predecessors, and halfway down the street a light came to life inside a window on the second floor of a building. Bingo, Andy victoriously thought to himself as he sped through the shadows like the aforementioned alley cat albeit with a measure more caution. He ducked into the alleyway that ran along the side of the building and looked around. It was typical, a few trash cans, a fire escape, a small pile of human excrement very poorly hidden under an old newspaper assumedly left behind the dumpster by a vagrant. Most importantly he saw he could easily climb the dumpster to access the retracted fire escape. He hefted himself up the side of the dumpster and instinctively looked down into it as he passed over. Frustratingly he saw scattered amongst the refuse a number of small toys and collectibles (in various states of destruction and disarray) that he had previously sold them. As his foot left the roof of the dumpster to ascend the fire escape, it made a small creaking noise and from within the dumpster there was a rustle and a murmur that culminated into a stirring movement that shifted a large piece of cardboard aside to reveal an old man who had been asleep and covered in rubbish. An incoherent grumble was heard before the vagrant settled back down again and after a short moment of motionlessness he continued his ascension up the fire escape. A dull light from inside a window above him permeated the darkness as he made his way towards it, nigh completely concealed by the shadows that covered him. He felt like an animal on the hunt as he stalked his way upwards towards the light. He stood pressed up against the wall once he reached the second floor and could hear a low grumble from inside. The light inside had been from an open fridge which meant her bedroom was on the front side of the house. The light quickly faded and then reappeared in a much diminished form as the hard thuds of Mrs Applebottom's heavy footsteps could be heard moving away and around a corner. She had either not noticed or not cared that she had left the fridge ajar and that just meant Andy's job was just that little bit easier and as Andy heard her snoring commence once more he made his move.

He tried to gently open the window but it didn't budge. With a bit more effort Andy tried to lift the wooden frame and once again it refused. Andy took a deep breath and roughly jerked his hands up and with a sudden reluctant scraping it lifted up at a speed much faster than Andy had intended or that he was able to stop in time. A medium volume thud could be heard as the window collided with the roof of its threshold but to his surprise Andy couldn't hear a stir apart from a minor falter in Mrs Applebottom's bellowing snores. He slipped in through the window with graceful silent footsteps and slowly made his way across the kitchen until his foot accidentally kicked a small toy doll and sent it skittering across the floor with more small noises. Andy's shoulders tensed before the stillness returned to the air. He looked down the see in the stretched shadows of the fridge's internal light was a veritable minefield of small wooden toys and knick knacks from Hobby-Goblins. Each was in different stages of ruin though notably more intact than those he had spotted in the dumpster and in the same breath first cursed them for mistreating them and then thanked them for always needing replacements and thus more of his business. He knelt down to pick one up and inspect it closer, rolling a small wooden train around in his hand. Bite marks, scratches and dents covered the small thing and satisfied with his inspection he placed it back where it was on the floor making sure not to disturb the chaotic feng shui of the place.