Sleeping on the floor by Jairo Tabares Velez, Course 13

I was living in Melbourne, Australia for one year; first I lived 8 months in a homestay, the family used to rent rooms for students, after I was living living 4 months with a couple from New Zealand, their names were John Wallace and Eva Wallace. We lived in apartment in the third floor of a building in Toorak.

I used to wash my clothes every Sunday at night, there was a laundry room in every floor and there was a washing machine and a clothes dryer. All people in the same floor could use the machine to wash and dry the clothes. 

One Saturday at night, around of 10 p.m., I was going to the laundry room to wash my clothes, I put my clothes on the washing machine, I put 3 coins of a Australian dollar and I turned on the washing machine, after I came back  to my apartment.

My friend John and I had the habit of drinking coffee before going to bed, we had talked for one hour while we were watching TV, after my friend John said me good night and he went to her bed.

My couple of friends had a very deep sleep and they snored too loud. Sometimes it was hard to sleep with their snoring, but eventually I got used to it.  I didn´t remember that my clothes were in the washer, so quickly I stood up of my chair and my friends were still sleeping. I get out my apartment silently and I leave the door half opened and unlocked.

My clothes had finished washing, then I put my clothes on the clothes dryer and I put 3 coins more and I turned on the clothes dryer. I was waiting for 10 minutes more to make sure that everything was working well, then I went to my apartment.

But oh surprise, when I was trying to open the door, the door didn´t open and I didn´t believe; my friend John had locked the door. I felt scared and worried, because the next day I had to get up early at 5 AM and then I had to go to work in the city center. I was knocking the door desperately for 45 minutes but no one opened the door. The snoring of my friends did not allow them to hear that I had knocked the door.

Nothing to do, I thought. I was frustrating, I went to the laundry room again and my clothes had already finished drying. I took a pair of jeans and then I stretched them over the floor behind of the door of laundry room, then I slept over the jeans and I threw over me a pair of t-shirts. It was a freezing night and I woke me up every 30 or 45 minutes because the cold was unbearable it.

From one moment to another, I hear that the door was opening, it was my friend John, he was looking for me, but he did not see that I was behind the door.

I lift quickly and I took my clothes and I went to my apartment. They looked worried and they asked me ¿where you was? I felt embarrassing and I did not want that they were worried by me. Only I said: That is ok, I woke up early and I went to the laundry room to pick up my clothes.

They never knew that they left me out of the apartment and they never knew that I had slept in the floor of laundry room.