Man In the Window

We have hardwood floors. So I am easily awakened when the dogs start prancing around to let me know they need to go out. Last night I was in no mood to get out of my warm bed, bundle up to face the winter storm, in the dark, to take the dogs out. The pacing continued.

Soon the pacing was replaced by Spencer barking at something out our bedroom window. I hollered at him to stop. The dogs bark at every stray that wanders through the yard--and there are a lot of them, but this was a different kind of bark. Both Nelson and I got up to go to the bathroom and tried to convince the dogs to hush, but they were both quite worked up by this time.

Nelson went back into the bedroom and decided to see which cat had the dogs so bothered and what he found was a guy looking back in the window at him. The guy started yelling at Nelson to call 911. Nelson had trouble communicating with the guy because he still had his CPAP mask on. The guy was frantic. He said that four guys were chasing him with guns and he wanted us to call 911.

I reached for the phone to call and of course it wasn’t in the charger. I went to the office to retrieve the one there to call. I hadn’t grabbed my glasses so I could barely see to dial the number. I was quickly connected with a dispatcher who kept asking questions, which I would relay to Nelson and then tell her the answers. She was asking things about the guy, where he was, what he was wearing, was he white or black. I wasn’t going anywhere near the window. Finally she asked if I could see the officers, then I looked out the window.

Four police cars arrived. Several of the officers got out of their cars. They put the guy in handcuffs and put him one of the cars. That car left and an officer stayed behind with a large flashlight looking around the area. Then they were gone.

It was 2:00AM. My heart was racing, my stomach was churning, my gall bladder throbbing. I knew my alarm was set to go off in two and a half hours. How was I ever going to get back to sleep? I tossed and turned and heard every sound for a while, but finally, sleep overcame fear and the next thing I heard was the alarm going off.

Before we crawled back into bed, I gave each of the dogs a biscuit and told them they were very good watch dogs. Nelson let them get up into bed with us. I didn’t mind their warm bodies or the loss of room. They earned it.

I posted a brief status about this on Nelson’s Facebook before I left for work. My nephew responded back that the ordeal was an everyday happening in his neck of the woods. I’m glad that’s not true where I live. I’m quite happy living in a small town. Maybe we’re not in the best neighborhood. Nelson’s car was broken into several months ago, but these things are exceptions not the rule. I need that to be true. I need to feel safe in my home. This morning I’m especially thankful that my husband put up motion sensor security lights around our home. I’m thankful for two wonderful dogs who do bark at things and people who wander through our yard. I’m thankful for a local police department that responds quickly when called.

At 1:45AM I didn’t feel very thankful, but I am now!