Woken up by voices of policemen outside my door AND the phone ringing blaring the name of my housemate at 5 in the morning is not the best way to start your day.
As I am typing this, I am still feeling a bit dizzy and jittery.
At around 5 this morning, my phone rang, blaring the name of Y, and I was like’ why is she calling me from across the room, at this time?’. Phonecalls at this hour was never good. But phonecalls from your own housemate that lives across the hall at this hour is even WORST, especially when it is accompanied by voices of men talking outside my door.
I.literally.frove. What is going on?
Scrambling down my bed, I picked up the phone, and she said ‘there’s policemen outside your room, talking to a burglar that is now on the roof. don’t be afraid. come to my room if you want’.
WHAT?
It has got to be one of the scariest moments in my life. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know whether I am in danger. I don’t know whether my housemates are in danger. What am I supposed to do? Should I stay in the room? Should I go out? Are they armed?
Millions of questions were running through my head and while I calmed myself down, I listened to the conversation going on outside my bedroom door. The policemen were coaxing somebody, asking him (I assume it’s a man) to talk to them and to come down. He was talking in a low and calm voice so I know that it is not an alarming situation.
But inside my room, on my own, in my bed, scary stories started playing in my head. What if the man falls through the roof into my room? What if he climbed down and break through the window? Does he has a weapon? I was so scared all I could do is recite the ayatul kursi over and over again.
After a few minutes, I braved myself to open my bedroom door. A few policemen were outside talking and they saw me. In a low voice again they told me that everything is fine, and I just need to stay inside my oom. It made me feel better and I went to the window and have a glance around the house. It’s still dark by I managed to see a few policemen circling around the house.
After a few more minutes, the policemen left and I went out to see my other housemates who are now huddled in Y’s room. It seems that this man might be a burglar and he was stuck on the roof for hours. According to one of my housemate, who are able to see more from their window views, there are policemen, ambulance, firetrucks and at one point even a helicopter ready!
After a few more minutes, he moved from our roof to the neighbour’s. So the policemen left my house and went to talk to the man from across the road.
We peeked through the window, watching the whole commotion. There were 2 negotiators, trying to make him come down. By this time, he’s already speaking back to the negotiator and it is indeed a he. When asked how he got up the roof the man said ’spiderman,spiderman’. He wants cigarettes now and is bartering that if the policemen gave him ciggies, he will come down. The whole negotiation and coaxing went on for a few more hours. Alas, the man did come down from the roof.
Scary as it was, I am still grateful that at least the man is outside the house, on the roof and not inside the house. Alhamdulillah, we were not burgled. We were not harmed. Spooked and scared to death for sure, but at least we are safe.
I am still not sure if he is a burglar or not. Or maybe he is someone who has a mental-illness problem. I don’t know. He was not hand-cuffed when he was taken away. But I do caught a few things from their conversation. It seems that he’s been ‘in and out since he’s 18′. He is still a young man, I caught a glimpse of his face when he went down the ladders. In some strange way, I do feel a bit pity towards him. Maybe he’s in a really bad situation and he doesn’t know what to do. I hope his life will get better after this.
I planned to go to the office and do some work today as I don’t have any class. But now, only at 10.30 in the morning, I am feeling tired and nervous. I guess maybe I was still pretty shaken up. Maybe I will just take it easy today and do some light reading from the house.
Please do pray for our safety and I know it’s quite a contra to say this after this entry, but do have a great weekend? 
Here’s a few pictures that we managed to take in order to prove that we are OK 
Firemen carrying the ladder to the side of our house
The negotiator’s leg, standing on the ladder while coaxing the man to come down. Yeah, he’s just right by our kitchen window.
My housemates peeking through the window
Police car and fire truck blocking the road.
). I am loving every minute of the lecture, and I can feel myself just gobbling up everything that the lecturers said. It is challenging and my brain is so tired everyday, but tired in a good way. Like after you workout, your muscle is tired, but you feel so good. Yeah, like that. And I still remember this is exactly what I want. I used to go to a lot of seminars and lectures, and after some point, I found that I should be doing the teaching for I know the subject better than the teacher/speaker! The materials are outdated, under-researched with no substance whatsoever, and I became very frustrated. I realised than maybe I have learnt all I need for that level, and I need to move up another level. Alhamdulillah, my prayer is granted 
I don’t mind going alone if it’s in Manchester, but it is in Liverpool and I have never been to Liverpool although it’s just a trainstop away. I initially plan to go to Birmingham’s concert, but I have coursework that’s due around that date, so that is out of question. So, it’s either Liverpool or London now. I keep checking the tickets, and they are still selling but I keep postponing buying because I still think that somehow I can find somebody who wants to go with me. Any takers?
