A Close Call

By Himadri Shailesh Patel

I had just perfunctorily returned home from an extended vacation trip to japan after experiencing delicious food beyond compare a beautiful country and spending time with amazing people needless to say. I was a bit depressed about coming home. I went straight to my bedroom and passed out before doing anything else rather I didn’t have the energy to do anything else. It was probably for that reason that I failed to notice indefinite hints that my home was not as lonely without me as I believed hours later. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of scampering noises and the floorboards squeaking understandably confused. I got out of bed and made my way into the hallway that was connected to both the living room and kitchen delicately. I crawl my way through the darkness groping the wall next to me for balance in my tired state as I trudged forward. I however made the deadly mistake of stepping onto one of the loudest boards in the hallway alerting whoever or whatever was loitering in the shadows of the next room.

I stopped as did the entity in the next room before a whoosh of air was heard as they retreated into whatever crevice they had come out of taking a nervous gulp of air. I walked into the living room and turned on the nearby lamp that dimly lit up the room looking around I spotted not a soul but rather some of my furniture was disturbed what's more a couple of my kitchen cabinets were slightly ajar bewildered but with my guard up. I went over and closed them all before readjusting my furniture by which point I had relaxed I chalked up the odd noises and movements to my jet-lagged brain and shrugged deciding to just head back to bed. I wish the story ended there but i was not so lucky before entering the hallway to my room. I saw that the large metal covering to the air vent above the couch was missing peering up at it. I mumbled what the before a crooked face filled with abject disdain for my existence popped into view startled. I fell to the ground and began crawling away as I heard the man began screeching incoherently as he dropped down onto the couch. I watched in horror has his joints cracked beneath his raggedy hoodie and heavily stained jeans. He stared at me silent now before brandishing a knife out of his back pocket and pointed it towards me. “My house now, mine, you left it. It's mine” he shouted with a slurred voice as he charged towards me. I hurriedly crawled towards my room and slammed the door behind me and locked it. As he started jabbing his blade into the door yelling at me to die shakily. I called the police and sobbed as I told them what was happening, thankfully I was told the patrol car was nearby my neighborhood and they would be at my house in minutes. I stayed on the phone and picked up a baseball bat just in case that deranged broke down my door a few horrendous minutes later the police arrived and after a quick but violent struggle they managed to subdue the intruder after locking him in the back seat of the patrol car. The cops investigated my house and found that the man apparently had been living there while I was gone but not just that apparently he'd been staying at my house without me noticing for a few months. According to the police they found paper stuffed under the couch that was filled with nothing but incoherent ramblings about how he planned to kill me one day when the time was right with the dates next to each entry predating my trip to japan by an uncomfortable amount of time. Frankly, I’m happy to be alive and relieved that the situation was resolved so quickly but still I make sure to triple check the locks in my home after that incident.

By Himadri Shailesh Patel