2:34am: Bloodcurdling noise echoed through my house and shook me out of my sleep.
I wait for my heart to stop trying to explode out of my chest.
I realize I’ve been woken up by a loud noise inside my house and now, sleepy eyed, exhausted, and deathly afraid, I really wish I had a man beside me I could kick out of bed to send out for this discovery.
So, detective hat on, I start with logic.
I look at the alarm panel in my bedroom and note it’s still active. Ok….whatever made the noise was always inside my house and had no need to break a window or open a door. Not sure if that made me feel any better because now thoughts of intruders trapped in my basement because we came home early from karate class, are lurking in my head. Maybe I should stay under my covers….
Breathe…..it can’t be a person. Our bite-size dog would have been growling and barking so bad person theory…out. Doggy is sleeping soundly in his crate on the landing at the top of the stairs.
Could something have broken? Skylight? Downspouts detaching from the house? Car exploding in my driveway? The thoughts were endless and eventually it became clear that I would have to actually get up and figure out what it was. I finally mustered up the courage to step out of my bed and as I got to my bedroom door, I simultaneously turned on all hallway lights and my bedroom light. Phew! No wild animals running across my path!
Peeking down the stairs to the main floor, I realize that there’s nothing near the front of the house capable of making such a noise so I restrict my search to the second floor. Younger son, in his bed….sleeping peacefully….wait, let me just check…..yup, he’s breathing. Good. I give him a kiss and move to the older son’s room. Nothing catastrophic in the hallway or bathroom….check. Turn on older son’s lights as I tiptoe into his room and he too, seems sound asleep and very clearly breathing. Insert sigh of relief. So where did this noise come from??? Now, I’m irritated because I’m either delusional and hearing things (there’s no way I made this noise up), or I’m missing something very bad that will continue to haunt me until I find it. As I continue to walk back out of older son’s room, I look down and there it is: Older, bigger son, with his deadweight arm in his sleep, knocked his I-Pad off the top of his nightstand.
The i-pad, tethered by it’s charging cord, then landed on the bottom open shelf of the nightstand. The nightstand, IS MADE OF METAL.
The Single Mom Chronicles 