The Narrative “My Nosy Neighbors”
The moment I woke up on Monday morning, I knew that this would be a wonderful day. I stretched luxuriously and climbed out of my bed to get ready for work. It was summertime and I could hear children playing joyfully outside. Two of my nosy neighbors were already chatting and laughing on the sidewalk.
The two, Hannah and Samantha, were always gossiping and laughing spitefully when people walked past. At the time, I could see that they were deep in discussion gossiping about our new neighbor who happened to be passing by. Hannah had curly hair and always wore a striped apron over her clothes. She was always jovial and had a laugh that could be heard from miles away.
Samantha was Hannah’s opposite, with a long Pinocchio-like nose, hair always tied into a bun, and tall and skinny like an old oak tree.
I walked briskly out of the house, car keys jangling in my hand. I am, by nature, an introverted person and rarely participate in social activities. This made Hannah and Samantha more eager to learn about me, and they always tried to invite themselves into my house or to peek through my windows. The moment I arrived from work, they would come and ask about my day but I hardly ever dignified their questions with a response.
Hannah constantly asked me about the noise coming from my basement last week but I ignored her. On this Monday morning, they both walked up to me and asked about it again. Samantha’s left eye was twitching and she seemed excited. I always imagined them leaning against walls or doors and listening to people’s conversations.
I ignored them as usual and left for work trying to think about the source of noise, but I assumed that it was a figment of their imagination. My day at work went well and I concluded a major business deal with one of the company’s best clients.
I drove home quickly and on reaching my driveway, I saw a huge crowd of neighbors gathered around my basement window.
When I pulled up, they all turned to stare at me and started whispering between themselves. “What is going on?”, I asked hesitantly. Hannah beckoned me to the window and gestured to lean down. When I did so, I heard whimpering and scratching coming from my basement. “There’s a baby in this basement. Call the police!” Hannah screamed.
At that moment, I panicked. The neighbors glanced fearfully at me because they all knew I did not have children. The whimpering continued and I started to imagine the worst-case scenario. Hannah and Samantha loudly informed the neighbors that they had always been suspicious of me and it was the reason why they had kept looking for the source of the sound coming from my house.
“We were right! This is a wicked person,” they said. I tried to recall all my movements the previous week becoming paranoid. It occurred to me that, perhaps, I drank alcohol excessively over the weekend and kidnapped someone’s child. Was it even possible? I was too distressed to think coherently when I saw that I was surrounded by an angry mob of neighbors.
The police arrive quickly and demanded entry into the house. Hannah and Samantha delightedly led the group into my hallway and looked around as I went down to the basement with the police. I made my way downstairs with trepidation. Behind me, I could hear Hannah and Samantha hurling insults: “Pervert! Kidnapper! You will not hurt children anymore!” I became convinced in my mind that they were right. If only the confusion would clear from my head so that I could remember the last week’s events.
The leading policeman came to the foot of the stairs and suddenly stopped. I leaned forward, still hearing the whimpering sounds and becoming even more afraid than before. He moved to the side and I saw a baby raccoon with its head stuck in a floppy hat.
I was so relieved that I started laughing, and my visions of being in a jail cell evaporated as I went back upstairs to prove Hannah and Samantha’s imagination wrong. What a relief!
I was angry at my two nosy neighbors for a long time for thinking of me as a criminal and for calling the police to investigate the case. They also cooled down for a while but were soon back to their usual nosy selves after a while. However, I realized that as long as they live next door, I will never have to buy a security system. I have the best possible neighborhood watch that keeps an eye on the events and movements happening around at all times.
I suspect that they keep a record of my activities and I will not be surprised if they constantly watch my house with binoculars and wait for me to do something worth gossiping about. There is no way I will ever have a break-in without them noticing, and this thought keeps me secure when I am at work.
Narrative Structural Analysis
One of the concepts that are used in this narrative is comics to communicate the idea of the story. The comical drawings of Hannah and Samantha in sequence in my narrative are an art form that can convey humor and create a storyline, as noted by McCloud (Hashim & Idris, 2016). The story uses the concept of point of interest to emphasize important elements in the images and to show the way the pictures are related to the story. Simplicity is also evident as the images contain only the things that the viewers are supposed to see. This also keeps the composition simple and ensures the message is not lost. Other concepts used in the narrative include the use of uncomplicated backgrounds in the pictures as well as closely cropped spaces to convey emotions. The lighting in the picture of the nosy woman peeking through her curtain emphasizes her activities and helps the readers to focus on her intrusive behavior. In general, the images used in the story help to highlight the important aspects of the narrative, and, on their own, they allow the readers to get the main idea of the entire story.
Reference
Hashim, M. E. A. H. B., & Idris, M. Z. (2016). Theoretical Framework and Development Motion Comic Instrument as Teaching Method for History Subject. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 6(11), 249-260. Web.