Tonight you’ll be home alone. The household decided to go out and you would just want to evening to yourself.  Just you, the couch, and some junk TV. Tonight should go smoothly. As you flip through the channels you stop at something that catches your interest.  A terrified woman whimpering behind the closet door as a mask man enters the room. You smile to yourself. Some people just can’t handle taking care of themselves on their own.  You’re not like that anymore. You enjoy being alone, comfortable in your own little solitude.  

  When you were younger, though, you were a little anxious. In the back of your mind you always had paranoid thoughts about some burglar or psycho breaking into the house doing unspeakable things, things you only see in movies or on the news. Thinking about it now is completely ridiculous. It doesn’t take a genius to close all the windows and doors and have a secure weapon nearby like a bat, knife, mace or a handgun. You’re positive that you’re completely safe in your cozy house. You know you better off indoors than out. Yes, there is no doubt in your mind that everything is fine.

  As you continue to watch TV you can hear the distant sounds of cars going by. The echoing of police sirens and fire trucks rings in your ears. You just ignore it. It has nothing to do with you, there is no need to think about it. After a few minutes everything goes silent and all you can hear outside is the cold wind blowing softly. It’s usually comforting yet this time it feels unsettling, like the clam before the storm. The silence is interrupted by the growling in your stomach. You walk into the kitchen and put some popcorn in the microwave. As you wait for your snack you glace all over the room. You never realize how empty the kitchen is without people in it. You peer into the other rooms. They are pitch black inside. Something tells you should stay out of the rooms and stay in the light.

  You grab your hot bag of popcorn and sit back on the couch. For a while you seem to be content with the television when you hear a slight sound. It sounded like tapping on the window. A chill ran through your body. This is ridiculous! You tell yourself not to freak out or you will only prove that you’re just another scaredy cat, but the more you resisted the more you panic. To finally put your mind to rest you turn around and carefully peek through the curtains. You realize that the tapping sound was coming from a branch from the bush in front of the window. You sighed in relief, then you gave yourself a mental slap in your face for acting so silly. You take a look down the street and see the neighborhood is covered in a fog. The fog created little puddles along the streets and the plants where covered in dew drops. You close the curtains and sit back to your seat. Now that is out of way, you can finally relax.

  It was only a few minutes later when you heard another sound; creeek creeek. It sounded like something or someone walking across the floor. It’s impossible! There’s no way anybody could be inside, the house is perfectly secure. On the hand, this was an old house. They tend to make weird noises, don’t they? Of course they do you told yourself. Even though the sound gave you goose bumps you know there is nothing to get scared of and nothing to worry about.  You promised yourself you won’t let anything else disrupt your peaceful evening. You flip through the channels until you found your favorite show. The sound of the creaking floor soon eased and finally you had peace and quiet.

  It has almost been an hour since the last annoyance and everything went as nicely as you originally planned. The neighbor’s dog, however, was barking for some reason. It was annoying at first but then it quiet again. It was probably barking at someone walking by, no big deal. Suddenly it became cold in the house. Even the windows seem to fog up. The thought of a warm cozy blanket seems nice right about now. You stand up and head toward a room where you can snatch a blanket and complete this restful night. After you grab a blanket you started to walk down the hallway when something caught you eye. That’s when you realized…something was off…something terribly unsettling.

 Your body becomes paralyzed, the pounding of your heart quickens, the air escapes your body, and your eyes widen in fear as you see your back door wide open with muddy shoe prints leaving a trail on floor.