That Grey Object

We keep our groceries, dried goods, frozen food all in one room in the basement.  I call that room our provision shop.  The fridge in our kitchen is a small one, just enough to store food items for the day or two.  We stock up our shop once a week, just to make sure we do not run out of supply.  We have almost everything a typical provision shop would have.  Noodles, eggs, ice cream, detergent, toilet rolls, meat, various types of sauces (Asian and western), milk, bread, rice, fruits, vegetables, sponges, toiletries, canned food, tidbits.

I pick things up from my shop at least once a day, usually more.  To get to my shop, I have to walk along a corridor about 7 metres long.  In the basement, unless it is artificially lit, it is logically dim.  That's because even though we have windows, they are underground and light is partially blocked out by the grating trench covers.  On a sunny day, it would look like a room with blackout curtains half drawn.

One cloudy day, I made my routine trip to the basement to retrieve some food supplies.  As long as I could see (and sometimes, I make use of my sense of touch), I prefer to borrow light from the nature to relying on electricity, so this day was no different.  With my hands full, I walked out of the shop trying to balance more items than I could take at one time, mainly because I was lazy to make the second trip down.  I trusted my imaginary feelers to bring me back upstairs as my eyes kept a tight watch on two items that were sitting loosely on top of two other items (I don't remember what they were anymore) when I thought I saw a large grey object creeping towards me.  My heart started to pump rapidly, my hands became cold and clammy.  Next thing we know is, I screamed!  Of course I screamed, who wouldn't?  It was quickly followed by one or two things falling out of my arms.  That object did not escape like it did before but instead came closer to me.  Then I got a clearer look at that big grey object.

Sigh!  If I had known it was Christophe, who came out from his basement office to check whether I needed help, and not a masked burglar, I wouldn't have to go through that adrenaline unnecessarily.  He was quick to calm down his scaredy cat, but not without getting amused by my once again over-reaction.

This wasn't the first time I got a fright in the house by him.  Many a times, when I go about my daily chores, like loading the washing machine (also in the basement), he would appear at the entrance of our washing room suddenly and give me a shock, not intentionally... I would say, to say hi, give me a hug/kiss or take a short break from work.  He would also wait silently behind the door while I take out the vacuum cleaner, and when I turn around get a little fright because I just don't expect him there.  He had tried making his presence known before he was physically there by announcing he was coming.  And sometimes, not all the time, I also suffered from a scare due to the sudden noise in the otherwise very quiet environment (read: school days).

Most times, he gets a shock from my shock.  I am still figuring out how to contain myself better in situations like this.  I have never been good at that, after living half my life, I am still not making any progress.  I guess I wasn't born with a built-in shock absorption, I might have to live with it until I breathe my last breath.