It was a cold, dark night at my house on Lookout Drive. It is usually very quiet, but on that night, there was an eerie silence. I peeked out the window, hoping to see my dad pulling into the driveway. My mother was working overtime, so I knew she wasn’t coming home that night. Now I was seven at the time, so being alone at night was not my favorite thing.

My father was supposed to be home any minute. I heard a car pull into the driveway, and I ran to the window with a feeling of relief, but I felt none because the man that got out of the car was not my father! I ran to lock the door; at this point I was so scared. I quickly locked the door and ran back to the window, only to find that the man and the car had vanished. All of a sudden, I heard a loud crash upstairs. The first thing that popped into my head was our dog Buck. I walked upstairs hoping to find Buck tangled in something. But when I got upstairs, I saw the bathroom mirror smashed and Buck shaking fiercely under a table in the corner of the hallway. It was really cold upstairs. I felt a gust of wind and turned fast. I saw there was a window open- it must have blown open because of the wind. I walked over to close it. As I did, I poked my head out a bit and looked down to the ground. I noticed there was a ladder leaned up against the side of the house. At the point, I knew that I wasn’t the only one in my house!

I began to freak out. I ran downstairs to call my dad, but the phone had been ripped out of the wall! I ran to the door to leave the house and realized the knob on the door had been flipped around and was locked from the outside. I was trapped! I stood still for a moment and told myself to calm down and control my breathing. Then, I heard footsteps upstairs. I was hoping it was only Buck, but I knew it wasn’t. I just wish my dad would come home. My fear was taking over..I was so scared, and I could only think bad thoughts. I started to run to my room and crawl under my bed when I decided that the closet would be a better idea. So quickly jumped into my closer and covered myself with some the dirty clothes that I had thrown on the closet floor. I kept telling myself to calm down and control my breathing, but I was so scared- my heart felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest.

All of a sudden, I began to hear footsteps creeping down the stairs. My heart was beating so hard I thought that if someone came in my room, he could actually hear it and know where I was hiding. I could tell when he came to the last step, because it is the squeaky one. The next thing I heard was rustling in the kitchen. There was a window in my room. I thought about taking a chance and climbing out to safety, but decided to just stay hidden in my closet. The rustling ceased and the footsteps began again. He was heading toward my room. My breathing started getting faster, and my heart was beginning to hurt it was beating so fast. I tried to hold my breath so I could listen. He was in my room and so close that I could hear him breathing. The footsteps got louder and heavier. He was right outside of my closet door. I saw the doorknob turn slowly…my heart stopped!

It was my dad! I leaped into his arms and began to sob. He was crying too. It was the first time I had ever seen my dad cry. He quickly said, “Are you okay?” I couldn’t say anything. I just shook my head, yes. My dad told me that we had an intruder in the house and that he saw him running away from the house when he pulled in the driveway. My dad told me that he was so scared. He knew that I was in the house by myself and couldn’t get to me quick enough. I still couldn’t say anything and my body felt numb. The only think I could feel was my dad holding me in his arms, and I knew that I was safe.