Burglar

Jeff Green | Dec 27, 2007

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What the family had not counted on, however, was how different it felt when my son-in-law worked nights and they would be without their strong protector. And no longer would they have the secure feeling of another person in the house if trouble should arise, as they now no longer had a landlady.

So it happened that one night recently, Alison and my 17-year-old granddaughter found themselves alone in the house because my 13-year-old grandson was at a hockey practice. Alison was a bit tired and went to bed early. When she woke up, she felt as though something had awakened her because she had only slept for about 45 minutes. Then she noticed that the lights in the living room were on even though she was sure that she had turned them off before she went to bed. Softly she went in to her daughter's bedroom and woke her up. "Katrina " she asked, "Did you leave the lights in the living room on?" "No mom" said Katrina, “I went to bed before you did, remember?"

This is when panic started. There had to be a burglar in the house and they were completely alone. What to do?

They looked for a weapon to use if they encountered the villain. Katrina found a giant dog bone that their real estate salesman had given their dog as a housewarming gift and Alison found their camera tripod. Armed with these dangerous weapons they sneaked down stairs.

And wouldn't you know, whenever one needs to be quiet, things always go wrong. It seemed that every stair creaked even though they only tiptoed on the outside of the stair treads. As they got nearer the living room they clutched their weapons tighter and felt a little bit strengthened by being together. Once they got downstairs they searched the living room, dining room and the kitchen, opened cupboards and closets and found nothing. And just as they breathed a sigh of relief, Alison noticed that the hall closet was slightly ajar.

She silently pointed to the closet, and as they crept towards it all of a sudden the front door opened stealthily. My brave granddaughter took one flying leap at the intruder with her weapon of choice, only to clobber her brother Christopher with her giant dog bone. Chris' hockey practice was over, and he was very quiet about opening the door as he felt that everyone would be asleep.

And ever since that night Chris has had a bewildered and slightly bemused expression on his face and has developed a small tic in his cheek. The doctor thinks that it will all settle down eventually, Chris just needs a little time.

And when my son-in-law came home from work that night he thought that my daughter was trying to hint that she wanted a new camera for Christmas, as she was fast asleep, tightly clutching her camera tripod.