Years ago while having a sleepover at my friend Nancy’s house, we were looking for ways to stay entertained. As we walked around her house trying to find something to do, Nancy remembered that her mother had recently bought a universal remote.

I had never seen one, so she ran over to show it to me. After explaining to me how it was supposed to work, and that it could control any television, two thoughts came to my mind. How universal was it, and how far would the signal go?

The neighbor behind her lived down a small hill, which meant that we could easily see through her windows by standing on a chair, and looking over the fence. We grabbed the remote and two chairs, and quietly made our way outside and through the backyard. Reaching the fence, we set up our chairs and climbed up.

The view into her neighbor’s window could not have been better. She had the blinds open and to our advantage, she was already sitting on the sofa watching television.

“What should we try first?” Nancy asked. “Let’s see if we can turn her TV off,” I replied.

With one click of the remote, the neighbor’s TV turned off. We couldn’t hear her, as her windows were closed, but we saw her turn a little in her seat and look around. She reached over and grabbed what I assume was her remote, and the TV came back on.

Of course, we were giggling already. What next? The volume! Nancy slowly started turning the volume up. We had no idea how loud it was, but soon the woman jumped off the couch. With remote in hand, she angrily turned the volume back down. Then she started pacing in her living room, trying to figure out what was going on.

By this time, Nancy and I were laughing uncontrollably.

After a couple of minutes, the woman calmed down and took her seat on the sofa again. We probably should have stopped then, but how often do you get to do something like that?

Nancy grabbed the remote again. Looking at me for an idea, I said “Just start turning it off and on, and see what she does.” So that’s what she did. Off…on…off…on…off…on.

At that point, the woman jumped from the couch again, and started screaming out of fear!

Nancy and I were laughing so hard that we fell off of our chairs. In a rush we climbed back on, and saw the lady practically running through her living room. She was terrified!

Finally she stopped, and turned toward the window. Then, we were terrified. Fortunately for us, we had turned off all the lights so it was rather dark in Nancy’s backyard. Plus we were quick, so right before her eyes would have met our location, we ducked out of sight.

We got away with it and although it was highly entertaining, we never did it again. Scarring one neighbor for life was one too many, and I’d apologize if she still lived there.

Imagine the haunting story she’s had to tell for all these years!

“Typing my heart out” for Nano Poblano/NaBloPoMo.