I had just gotten home from cheerleading practice; my mom, dad and sisters were all off doing various things outside of our house. My Aunt was at a football scrimmage with my little brother on the other side of town. I came in, threw my cheerleading bag down in the mudroom and went upstairs to shower. One thing stopped me however; as I headed towards the stairs I noticed the back door to my dad’s garden was wide open. A million different thoughts started to run through my head: “ Did someone break in? If I go upstairs am I going to find a robber? Am I going to die?
“Calm down, calm down,” I told myself. Right as I started to calm down, I heard what I thought were footsteps going up and down the second set of stairs in our house. I ran out the kitchen door and stood on the trampoline dialing my aunt as quickly as I could. My aunt tried to calm me down by asking me questions like,” How was cheerleading practice? What kinds of leftovers are in the refrigerator?” After I hung up I grabbed the dog leash and walked barefoot up our street with my dog, attempting to see if my friend was at home. Thankfully she was home so I stayed with her until my aunt and brother returned. I still stay home alone, but now I’m more used to it. I’ve also learned that if there was actually anyone in my house, my dogs would bark like mad. Those ‘footsteps’ I heard? That was just my
WAY over active eleven-year-old imagination playing tricks on me.