Fear. Trembling. Trepidation. All these emotions mixed around in my body as I sat on the couch as still as I could. Everybody was out of the house. I was there. Alone. All by myself. Except for the person in my house that I didn’t know about. I was hoping that they couldn’t hear me. I was only in seventh grade; what else was I supposed to do?

 As I sat at home while my whole family was at my sister Lauren’s lacrosse banquet, I was shaking. I didn’t know what to do or think so I stood still. Who is in the house? Why are they scratching the door downstairs? What do they want with me? Should I go look to see what’s there or hide in the pillows?

I decided to take a long look around the house from the upstairs to my floor. While I scanned the room, I heard tapping. It came from the basement and somebody was definitely in there. I could hear their movement and scratching. There was no way I could just sit here acting like no one is in the house. I got up and made my way towards the kitchen.

“Hello?” I questioned while flipping on all the lights.

 “Who’s there?” I walked closer to the counter and looked behind the table.

 It was dark so grabbed my phone and turned on my flashlight and I headed downstairs. Why didn’t I grab a weapon? Not smart. No turning back now; I am too close.         

I started to move very slowly with my heels barely touching the floor. My body was shaking and my hands were cold while I grew goosebumps all over my body. My toes edged a little closer to the end of the stairs until I was finally there. This is it.

When I made it to the bottom of the basement, all the lights were turned off. Should I turn the lights on? No, that will draw attention to me. Just keep moving.

 The first place I went in the basement was the closet. My hands grabbed the door knob and opened it slowly but nothing was there except regular blankets. After, I crept to the big room in the basement when I heard a scratch. It came from the door leading to outside. I went to the bar and grabbed a knife that was sitting there.

I made my way around the pool table to the door. It was dark, silent, and I couldn’t see anything. I had to turn the lights on if I wanted to know what was out there. The scratching was getting louder and louder until one more scratch and that was it. After that, everything went silent. I had to turn the lights on now and only now. Ok. You can do it. Alright here we go. On three. One. Two. Three.

My heart beat went up a whole other level as I got closer to the light switch. I had no idea what to expect or what would be out there. It was finally time to find out. With quick and shaky hands, I turned on the lights as fast as I could. When they came on, I flinched, squinted and turned away. When I looked back, a sigh of relief passed over me like a wave. What I found was a small, little, fury animal. It was sitting there, waiting for me to open that door. Seems I forgot to let my dog back inside after she ran outside earlier that day.

“Really Tori! You scared me to death!” I exclaimed with passion.

“Come on, get inside!” I hollered at her.

Her paws were soaked in mud from the yard and her stomach was soaked. She let out a little bark and then ran inside. When she did, I had never felt more relieved in my life. I hadn’t  ever felt this kind of fear. All my shaking and trembling from the last hour came from the little creature I loved the most.