Random story

So, this is something I should have posted long ago, but now I feel like the entire story is over, so I will write about it in detail.

Starting near the end of December, Sid's apartment had a fly infestation. Fly AND larva. At first it was unsure as to where they were coming from, but then we realized they were dropping from the ceiling. Of course it's an old building, so naturally it was assumed that there was a problem with insulation. Disgusting. Nothing was safe from these creatures, vacuuming insued day in and day out, multiple fly swatters were purchases along with bug spray. The apartment agency was called to get an exterminator to come in. In France, these things often take time. Within several weeks an expert did come, only to say "Yes, there is a problem, but I can't figure out why." There was no way to stop these things!!

So, I believe it was December 21st, a night when I was not there, Sid and a friend of his saw that the window to the upstairs apartment was open. Then, Sid thought to himself, "I haven't seen the neighbor for quite some time."

The building is not an average building, kind of difficult to explain. But Sid's apartment is 2 floors, but the second floor not being part of the original building. There is a window in the bathroom on the second floor that looks out to the window of the neighbor's apartment. Skylights to Sid's kitchen are between the two windows, so it's possible to walk from one to the other. Sid and his friend, after knocking at the apartment door and getting no answer, decided that it would be a great idea to walk to the neighbor's apartment to see what was going on inside that could be the cause of the fly problem.

Sid, with a flashlight in his hand, stepped into the apartment and was immediately hit by a rotten stench. He scanned the room, and his light beamed onto the decomposing corpse of his (former) neighbor. Half of her face no longer had skin on it, and he could see the bones.

And the reason behind the fly problem was solved.

Obviously shaken, he dropped the flashlight and jumped out the window. Afterwards, he reentered the apartment to find it as it was that important to him.

The police was called, and they came. But they only looked in the apartment through Sid's window to verify that the corpse was there. They were going to leave it to the firefighters to go into the apartment.

We don't really know who got her out. But she is out. The flies are no longer a problem.

So, to fill in the blanks. This neighbor was 65 years old, and had basically no friends. She had been dead between 1 1/2 to 2 months before Sid found her. Sid had seen her many times, and it seemed she had a serious drinking problem and also smoked all the time. Several days after she was found, her sister called Sid (the police had given her his number...what?) to get the story from him. They had been corresponding through letters, the last one received the end of October from the dead woman. The sister had been worried, trying to call her, as they were supposed to spend Christmas together in Paris. In fact, she had arranged for someone to come check her apartment the day after she was found.

As far as we know, they have not determined why she died (and probably will never). But she was clutching the telephone in her hands and the phone book was open. It's speculated by her family that she choked, but I don't think it's for sure.

Last week the woman's nephews came to clean out the apartment. They wore masks because of the stench, and left bags of her stuff to be thrown away. They did it very neatly and, in my opinion, the best way possible. But of course France has its own poor and homeless people, and in no time the bags were torn open and her things were everywhere. I was there that day, and saw so many people rummaging through her things. I wanted to tell them the story to dissuade them, as I was disgusted at the thought of touching those things. But as they were strewn on the ground, I saw the blanket on which she died, stained black from her decomposition. And also the telephone that she had held in her hand, with pieces of her still on it. And these people going through the items didn't know what it was. Undoubtedly people touched the phone and the blanket. Disgusting.

I hope I wasn't too detailed in my description. It's been quite the adventure, I must say, even though for the most exciting part I wasn't present.