MAR 2025 - Uninvited Visitors

About midnight one evening I was woken up by the sound of pounding on my front door. At first I thought it was drunk kids having fun. Then I heard footsteps running up the back stairs to the deck. I got out of bed, turned on the lights, and ran upstairs.

As I was looking out to see who was there, I heard the sound of glass shattering. I ran downstairs and into my bedroom. A man was standing by the shattered glass patio door. In my bedroom. Good thing I wasn’t wearing a see-through nightgown.

“Jesus Christ!” I blurted out. “What are you doing?” 

He fled.

Only then did I realize the drawer to my night table was gone.

On the floor, next to my purse, was a small boulder, used to smash the double pane patio door. I guessed there were two men. The first took the drawer. The second had come to take my purse.

I stared at the mess, unable to take in the events, which happened so quickly—a matter of minutes. It finally occurred to me to call the police. When they came, I told them what happened, and what I’d said, “One of them responded with disbelief. “You said what?” I didn’t know what to say. He continued. “You shouldn’t have confronted him. He could have hurt you.”

I joked and said, “Maybe what I said reminded him of his Maker and he fled in shame.”

“More likely he was surprised and fled in fear,” he replied, shaking his head.

The police were kind. They searched for my missing drawer, which had no money, drugs, or valuables, but didn’t find it. Ironically, I’d taken sixty dollars out of it that morning. They gave me the number of a man who cleans up glass during the night after break-ins. I called him, relieved that when he came around 2am, he was conscientious and thorough. 

In the morning I called the insurance company and was told to make a list of everything in the drawer. I called a carpenter to come measure the space for a new drawer. I called the alarm company and told them the alarm hadn’t worked; they needed to redo the system.

A new drawer was installed. The insurance covered the patio door replacement, the cost of replacing what contents I could remember in the stolen drawer, and the screen door, which the burglars ripped. It’s now a screen door with alarms woven in. 

Friends asked “Weren’t you terrified?” The truth is I was too stunned to feel fear. It all happened so fast. Many asked if I was afraid to stay alone at night. 

I’ve been living by myself since 1975, except for a brief year and a half relationship in the early 80’s. “I can’t afford to be afraid,” I told them. 

Given my abusive childhood, I learned at an early age—fear is not my friend. 

What would you have done?

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MARCH 2025 MONTHLY STORIES