From the Outside

There are few things better than being snuggled up with a good book by the fireplace as the snow rages outside. Few things worse than your dog pleading for you to take it outside in that snow. One winter night, just as I was delving into a juicy section in the book I was reading, my dog Sprinkles begged for us to journey into the tundra. One cannot say no to her big puppy eyes, so I conceded.

Outside, I glanced around as Sprinkles took her sweet time finding a good spot to do her business. We lived alone in the country, far away from any other people, in the house my parents left me when they passed. I took mini jumps as I tried to stay warm. Finally, my puppy was ready to head back inside, just before I felt like I was going to lose all feeling in my limbs. We started towards to house and then stopped suddenly. Somebody was standing my the window inside the house. Slowly, they walked past it.

My icy hands felt around my coat pockets, but there was no phone there. It was upstairs in my bedroom on the nightstand, along with my car keys. Two options came to mind: stay outside and freeze to death or sneak in (to my own house) and grab my cell and keys to attempt an escape. As unappealing as the second option seemed, it was the only one that gave me a chance. 

Carefully, I opened the door and started to walk in with Sprinkles. Moving only a few centimeters at a time, I headed towards the stairs, constantly swinging my head in every direction to make sure the unwanted visitor wasn't around. Sprinkles suddenly sprinted towards the kitchen and I dropped the leash. I heard hurried footsteps and frantically hid in a hallway closet. Pushing myself to a far back corner, I prayed whoever was in my house wouldn't find me.

A bit later, after a squeal, the barking stopped. There was only the sound of heavy footsteps treading around. Why would somebody else be in my house? It was out in the middle of nowhere -this was no random break-in. There wasn't even anything much anybody would find worth stealing. I realized that, whoever it was, they must have come for me. I had no desire to find out why. At one point, the person stood right next to the door, I saw the shadow underneath, but then walked away. Even after I no longer heard the footsteps, I refused to leave that closet.

That was where I was discovered, two days later. My dog was nowhere to be found. This was three months ago and I still haven't seen any sign of Sprinkles. Everybody tells me that I imagined the entire thing, but I didn't. I know what I saw. They're the ones that can't explain men's boots that I found.