Fire alarms are kind of like insurance policies- you buy them and keep them around just in case a horrifying and exceptional circumstance comes that will require the device to be put to use. Up until such a point, your money goes to Wal-Mart and in return, you have a little plastic thing hanging above your door, ready to screech uncontrollably if it catches a whiff of smoke. Frequently the average domestic version of this device comes in the color white, with an unusual pattern on the front that appears somewhat like a demented-looking smile (or at least that's the construction of those in my home). It is a good thing they were never marketed as a decorative product, because they would have been laughed out of the Better Homes & Gardens magazine the moment they sent in a photograph.
When your fire alarm is functioning properly, it merely sits there and stares at you quietly while you sleep. But then, once every year or two, it comes alive. It is odd to say that something can seem more alive when it's energy source is running low, but it's true. Perhaps they operate like babies- sleeping for many hours, but once hunger strikes, it screams for more sustenance.
I do not know why, but it seems to be a near unhindered fact that if your fire alarm is to run out of battery juice and begin it's high-pitched chirping routine, it will ALWAYS try to do so when you would rather be asleep. Recently, mine decided I should feed it at 5:45am. Needless to say, I was too groggy to oblige it and rather, threw it out on to my back porch and shut the door. I awoke several hours later to overhear my breakfast-eating family wondering where the noise was coming from. It wasn't terribly long before they discovered the answer.
If anyone has a good (maybe even interesting?) explanation for this phenomenon, I would love to hear it! Feel free to drop me a line, if you so have the desire :)
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