Firealarm

It’s still dark outside and the clock is not yet showing a 6 when I am woken up by an alarm going off. Bleary-eyed, I roll over, thinking that someone probably opened the wrong car door, or some shop owner forgot to turn off the alarm. In any case, nothing to do with me.

But the siren doesn’t stop, and now some recorded voice is telling me to “evacuate the building”. Hmm. Weird. Maybe I should get up and verify that the sound really is coming from somewhere outside. I am sure it is, as it is coming from the window. But still.

What I didn’t count on is the fact that the hotel-room I am staying in is cut in a peculiar way, so that sound coming from the hallway is reflected back off of the front of the living room (and the windows) towards the bedroom. Once I am out of bed I realise my mistake. And I also realise that the alarm is actually coming from the hallway. Of my hotel.

Aaaaaaaaah!

Maybe I should just get dressed, grab my phone and wallet and head downstairs. Luckily I am on the first floor, so the way down is actually not that far. It is, however, wet. Is that water from the sprinkler going off somewhere above me?

But, no. It’s just the rain. And the people coming downstairs are all pretty calm. There is no smoke, no smell of burning, nothing really.

As it turns out, it was a false alarm. Someone was apparently making breakfast and set off the smoke detector. So, after 10 minutes in the chill morning air, we were allowed back into our rooms. I even managed a few more minutes of sleep before getting back up for good.

What a way to start the day. 🙂