Going Dark

I haven't always been a light sleeper.  I've always been a sleeper, but not always a light one.  I used to sleep through anything.  One day, I realized that it wasn't very safe being a "deep" sleeper, so I started practicing sleeping lightly.  And I haven't been able to stop. 


I hear everything.  Every drip of water, ever toilet flush, every strong gust of wind.  And I suppose that's a woman's job.  I'm looking out for my family.  Don't get me wrong, I used to wake up my husband every time I heard a noise.  Then he was more exhausted than I was because he would get woken up more than he cared for.  


"Honey," he started.  "If you hear a noise that makes you think someone is breaking into the house, or if the house is on fire, or we are in some other danger, wake me up.  But if you hear the creaks of the house, the fridge making ice, or the furnace turning off, please let me sleep."


Done.


I didn't wake him up.  Everything was dandy.  He was getting the sleep he needed, and I got enough sleep as well.  At least enough to function, so that's all that mattered really.


Last night was like any other.  We ate dinner together.  Specifically, orange-honey chicken, rice, and carrots.  Then, we cleaned up our dishes and wiped down the counters and got ready to get cozy for the night.  The three of us lounged on the couches and watched a movie.  I typically request a non-scary movie before bed, so we watched Apollo 13.  Something all three of us enjoyed. 


In the middle of the night, in my sleep, I heard a noise.  My brain was having trouble sorting out what the noise was, but I thought someone had a car crash near our house.  It was loud.  I don't remember situating myself to sit up, but I managed to sit straight up and pick up Belle in one fail swoop.  She was curled up next to me five minutes before, yet when I picked her up, her ears were already standing.  She had heard it too.  I wasn't dreaming.


"Carl," I grabbed his leg.  "Something's wrong."  


He jumped up, just barely awake enough to realize that he, too, had heard something.  He managed to sleep through it somehow.  "Grab your phone," he told me as he ran downstairs.  


I was trying to figure out what on earth I had heard, but I clearly remembered hearing three sounds.  A loud bang like a tree falling, glass shattering, and a swooshing noise.  I wasn't prepared for what I heard next.  "The front door is open!"


I dialed 911 and answered their million and one questions they were asking me, all while breathing heavily.


"What color shirt is your husband wearing?  What color are his pants?  What is your husband's name?  Who else is in the house?  Is there an intruder in your house?  Where are you located inside of the house?  Is anyone downstairs in the house?....."  The questions continued.  I was getting annoyed with the officer for not telling me someone was already on the way.


Carl walked back into our bedroom while the officers continued to question me on the phone.  Carl asked me if I was okay.  He saw that I was struggling to breathe and apparently making incoherent sentences.  I passed him the phone and stood up, only to see my reflection with absolutely no color, and I fell back into the bed.  Carl stood at the top of the stairs and I carried Belle with me to Austin's room.


Opening his door, I hit a stack of toys that fell over.  I looked over to his bed, and saw no movement.  Walking further in, I tripped and made more ruckus.  Still, no movement.  Finally I was close enough to the bed to see Austin, so I gave Carl a thumbs up.  Just for safe measure, I ran my fingers through his hair.  He was safe and sound, without a care or any knowledge that someone had just intruded into our home and violated our safe little world.


The police finally arrived so we made our way down the stairs.  It was then that Belle decided to start barking.  Apparently she thought she was off duty of her guarding the house during the nighttime hours. We'll have a little talk about that later...


Anyway, the police looked at our front door which we discovered had been forced open, flew back so hard that it hit the wall and then almost swung shut.  The door frame was destroyed, laying on the floor.  Upon further inspection in the light of day, we saw marks all over the door that could've been a crow bar.  


The three noises that I heard in my sleep were as follows.  And I believe they were close to simultaneous.
Tree falling: Someone hitting the door really hard.
Glass shattering:  This took me a while to understand, until Carl nudged a piece of hardware from the door.  I was brought back to the sound like a movie playing in slow motion.  I had heard the metal hardware from the door hitting the tile in our foyer.  My brain thought it was glass in my sleepy state.
Swooshing noise: The door flying open, hitting the wall (also tree falling noise) and then swinging back *almost* shut.


Thankfully, the intruder took off, rather than entering our home.  But it scares us.  I sat up since 2:40 in the morning until 9am and just cried on and off.  Carl and I both stayed in the living room keeping an eye on things, trying our best not to jump at every small noise we heard.  By the time the sun started coming up, I had never appreciated daylight more.  Everything is always better in the daylight.  


This week on our to-do list (other than get our door repaired) is to get a home alarm system.  The house is equipped with one already, so we just need to activate it.  I thank God that everyone was okay, and the intruder didn't take anything.  


Matthew 6:20 tells us "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."  As difficult as it may be to start over, I could live with that.  I could not live with losing a family member or pet from an intruder, though.  Laptop?  Sure.  Jewelry?  Sad, but sure.  Family?  .............Did I mention we're purchasing a gun this week??


Anyway, this brings me to my news.  I've decided I'm going to make this blog private.  I'm more than happy to share this with you if I've met you in real life and I trust you.  Facebook friends, that means you... I don't accept friend requests from people untrustworthy or whom I do not know.  Family, of course you will be allowed in.  Fellow bloggers, email me.  If I know you well enough through your blog, I'll allow you to read it, too.  (In fact, if you've allowed me access to your private blog, I consider myself to know you and will allow you to read along.)  (loveissomethingthatwedo@gmail.com)  Or, click here: Email me!


Thank you all for your understanding.  This was a really scary situation, and I hope and pray that the intruder does not come back.