Things That Go Bump In The Night...

I awoke with a confused startle.  What was that noise.  It almost sounded as if someone were in the house moaning.  I struggled to get awake enough to confirm my surroundings.  A cold wet nose nuzzled against my right cheek.  Yes, I was laying on my living room sofa and across the room I could see the clock.  It’s only 9 minutes past midnight I thought.  Sigh, less than six hours till I had to go to work.  Again, I heard muffled sounds.   My mind played with the possibility that my mother was having another nightmare.  The medicine she’s on often causes her to have nightmares and cry out in her sleep.  Thankfully though she doesn’t remember them.  I’ve learned to just let her sleep through them.  I mentally stretch my hearing in the direction of the bedroom of which she’s on the other side.  No, it’s not her.  Now, I can clearly hear sirens off in the distance, but the sound is ever so slowly heading in my direction.   My fogged brain slowly starts to comprehend the noises that I am hearing.  There it is, the moaning.  It’s simply the wind and winter announcing its intended arrival.  Bear, my Pekinese, seams annoyed that I’m moving my head as I listen.  For a couple of minutes, I listen to the sirens, wondering if they will come down my street but they veer off and are obviously now heading a little away from me.  Sounds don’t usually wake me of this nature.  I settle back down and with ease it seems fall back to sleep.  As I sleep I am dreaming of some new job I have.  In the dream, the job is one where I must choose which people get bonus checks and which ones don’t.  It seems completely off kilt to me as I have never wanted to be in charge or be in management.  I am about to say when I am again awoken.  This time Bear is barking and growling and jumps from beside me to go stand in front of the door.  I hear a noise that makes me get up as well.  I go to the window and peak out to see a figure running down my driveway.  Am I dreaming?  I turn on a light and look around.  Then I hear the wind slamming my screen door against my outer door.  No, I’m awake.  I open the door and grab the slamming screen door and pull it closed and lock it.  I always make sure it’s closed because I know what the wind will do to it.  I’m befuddled at the thought that someone was at my door this time of night.  My dog, Bear, had alerted me and awakened me to the person trying to gain entry or so it would seem.  I looked out again and there is no one out there now.  I’ve lived in this neighborhood since 1999.  I have had a kid walk up and try to open my door when I was sitting on the sofa during broad daylight once a few years back.  I think it startled him that I was looking right at him through the window.  I have also had gas stolen from my car twice, but for the most part my neighborhood is harmless.  I looked at the clock again and it’s shortly after 1 in the morning.  My mind flashes back to the sirens less than an hour earlier.  I’ve seen too many movies is what runs through my mind.  The two couldn’t possibly be connected.  Reality again sinks in and I am a woman who likes my sleep.  I leave the lights in the living room on and curl back up on the sofa.  I need sleep before work in the morning.  Surprisingly I fell back to sleep and into dreamland with no trouble what so ever.  When I awoke this morning, I got dressed as usual and headed off to work.  My mind flashing back to the nights events.   I suppose it should bother me more than does that someone did that last night.  I mean it was only yesterday I was thinking about how awful it is that someone just walked into a Walmart and took lives with no thought.  Those people were going about their daily lives and didn’t have a care in the world or fear at doing their shopping there and now they are no longer among the living.  I choose to put my faith in the Lord though.  He will not let anything happen to me before it’s my time to go.  For me though it was a thought that it could have been very different for me last night.  I sleep very soundly so if my little Bear hadn’t awakened me and made such a fuss that person might have gotten in.  Who knows what would have happened then.  So, I gave this little guy a home a little over a year ago and yes, he can be handful but to me last night he earned his keep.  He earned a place in my heart that he already had but he’s sealed the deal now.  Ten pounds of fluff that was so intent on making sure no one came in to hurt me.  So, things that go bump in the night beware… Officer Bear protects this home!