A STRANGER IN MY HEAD
I hid behind the curtain as a stranger entered my domain. He acted like he owned the place! I, trembling, held my breath and slowly crept toward the hallway closet and hid myself amongst the lifeless coats. He had the nerve, this unwelcome guest, to sit in my favorite chair and reclining it back, closed his eyes and was soon fast asleep. I was trapped! I was nearly frightened to death and tried to still the pounding of my heart. I had no cell phone as I had never figured out how to use one. There was no lingering odor of moth balls surrounding these clothes I was enveloped in and the stranger must have replaced all of my coats and old umbrellas with his. I hated him now for disrupting my life and taking over my humble house. Little though it was and alike the others in this cookie-cutter neighborhood, it was mine. My ears picked up the snoring sounds leaking from the hole in his face which now looked a little familiar to me. No, that couldn't be. No one I knew would creep into my house and invade my private space. Could I now escape and find some help? Now I heard the meowing of a cat; but I don't own a cat. Was the cat his or did it also enter my home without an invitation? I took a deep breath and crawling like a cat, I escaped out the front door. Running through the yard, I turned my head towards the house and was caught in the lights that had just been turned on. A loud voice said, "I'm calling the police, what are you doing in my yard"? I was bewildered and then saw a house next door that looked just like the one I had just left. The door was open and I stumbled through it. This place looked more familiar to me than the one I had just came from. The stranger, called 'Dementia', had followed me home and wouldn't leave me alone, wouldn't let me escape from it's hold on me.