The Basement Flat (part 1)
Alys, thanks for coming round.
So, you should know Robert's here now, upstairs in the shower. Calming down I hope.
He turned up in a real state of panic about half an hour ago. He claims someone has stolen his flat. Actually that's not quite right. It's hard to get your head around exactly what he is claiming.
He says he woke up this morning on the sofa fully clothed. You and I know he's never normally up and about until the afternoon, though waking up fully clothed is nothing new I guess.
But here's the weird bit. He says something seemed very wrong and he was really scared. He was convinced he was not at home.
So sure that he took these photos in a panic and dashed out up the stairs to the street.
And that just made it worse. He says he's convinced the house seemed further up the road, not opposite the same bit of park, not opposite the big cracked sycamore.
And he rushed straight round here. He was in a real state.
And I phoned you.
So here's his phone. He's taken a couple of pictures of his front room. Do me a favour and take a look, channel your inner estate agent, and tell me what you see. I think there's something wrong.
This one's the back of the lounge.
At a quick glance it seems Ok, yes? But let's be systematic.
Walls are painted plain light grey. Ceiling and skirting boards are in white. There's a door in the back left corner leading to the kitchen and bathroom. The floor is sanded floorboards, we can see the edge of a colourfully abstract rug and the coffee table. It's all that mid-60's scandi style that Robert has been collecting for ages. The sofa's big and plain and a deeper grey than the walls, we can see the wooden arms. There's a standard lamp. You remember the one he got in the antique shop in Hampshire. It's switched on. There's a neat stack of magazines on the coffee table. Half a dozen pictures on the walls, mostly colourful and abstract like the rug. They all look correct to me, though I find it hard to distinguish one from another to be honest. That's Robert's area of expertise.
I can't see anything wrong here, it all looks like Robert's flat to me, it's all Robert's stuff.
Except, a quick thought, maybe you'd expect Robert's floor to permanently look like it needs a hoover. And magazines are normally strewn and open, not usually neatly on the coffee table.
I know this is peculiar, bear with me.
Here's the next picture, looking the other way. There's windows on this side as you know, light getting in from above, and the door on the right to the outside. Gaudy curtains pulled right back. Beyond you can see the basement courtyard and the steps leading up to the street. The courtyard looks empty from here, no plants or anything. Inside, the TV's in the left corner, on a low cupboard, with some books. More pictures on the walls. You can just see the edge of the mirror that takes up part of the left-hand wall. Everything looks like Robert's.
So all this looks okay to me, but it's true of course that photos can't convey the atmosphere, the smell, the true colours or the true light.
And apparently that was Roberts first reaction when he woke up. He said it smelt wrong. It was too neat.
Now obviously this sounds just nonsense
Except look at these photos again.
What do you think?
In the second photo, look at the window.
Those curtains pulled back to the sides there.
Do you remember? Robert replaced those curtains with blinds.
Installed 2 weeks ago.
Look at both photos.
Everything else seems identical.
Except the tidiness maybe. But the curtains? What?
What is going on? It's as if someone has re-created his room, and then put him in it. But they made the mistake of not noticing the recent change. Can you think of a better explanation?
Who would do this?
Why would anyone do this?
What on earth is going on?
© Bill Deakin