In My Basement

We have people living in our basement. I don't know where they came from. They just showed up one day and decided to pop a squat down there. Just kidding....They have actually lived in the basement longer than we have lived in the main house. When we first moved in they were relatively quiet. We were assured by our landlord that they were frequently not at home, working odd hours and retiring to their country home frequently. Plus there is sound proofing insulation between the floors. Or so he claimed.

For the first few months things were relatively quiet. We didn't run into each other. We didn't hear very much. And they did frequently visit their other home.

Recently, however, they have become quite loud. Not in an obnoxious I've had it with them sort of way. But in an, 'Oh yeah, peeps live down there sort of way.' We hear snippets of conversations, tv shows, doors closing, toilets flushing, water running. Today I overheard an arguement. And most of the time this is okay. What is not okay is walking into my dark house, hearing voices and freaking out that someone else is there, only to realize that someone else is just being heard through the basement door. It happened the first time the weekend of the hurricane. I came home late to an empty house and they were having one heck of a hurricane party down there. Then again this past weekend. I returned from work and could have sworn someone was in the kitchen talking to me. They were below the kitchen.

I don't know if they have gotten exponentially louder, if the soundproofing isn't doing its job or maybe we are both just present in the house together more frequently. But it has me wondering. If I can hear them, what can they hear of me....