A few days ago...
I was up at around 5am, getting ready to go to bed. I'm reading in bed like I usually do, and I hear this... noise. Sounds like the sliding door opening...And i'm thinking to myself, "Did I shut and lock it before I went to bed?" I don't HEAR any voices, no noises indicating L (my sister) or mom are up and about. I'm not hearing the dog bark outside...I don't like this. My brain starts playing "What if?". "What if it's a burglar? Well, what if it's your sister letting out the dog? Yeah? What if you're wrong and it IS someone breaking into the house? But what if I don't check? What if you're robbed, you Dummy?! What if someone hurts your mom or sister while you assume everything's ok and you go to bed? Do you you really wanna take that chance? No, not really, because..."
When I was 15, someone broke into our house. They took a crowbar or a hammer and chisel and pried the deadbolt out/broke the window in the door ( actually what I think they did was use a crowbar on the window after the 'bar couldn't pry the door open. They then reached in and turned the bolt. you could see damage to the door and jamb as well as the window). I heard it. I was asleep at the time and the loud noise woke me up. He came into my room (I don't know why) and tried to turn on the light. The lightswitch in the wall didn't work. In my sleep dazed state, I mumbled, "try the other one"(!). I guess I thought, not fully awake, that he was someone who belonged there, family or friend. And then he turned around and left, saying nothing! I was VERY lucky. He could have slit my throat before I knew what was going on. Or shot me. Mercifully, he just left. I saw his half his face in the light of the hallway. He was male, long blond or light brown hair, with a moustache and relatively young (20 or 30's). After I had woken up enough to realize what had happened, I was shaken quite badly. I went to the side door and saw it hanging open, the deadbolt worked on and the glass broken. Cold fall air blowing in the house, no real way to close the door now that it was busted. It couldn't close or stay shut. There is nothing like having your house broken into to scare the living fucking crap out of you. It is a violation, a Rape of your home, your safety, and your sanctuary, the place where you feel safe. It is endangerment of your life and that of your loved ones, on par with a natural disaster hitting your house. So, I sat, and waited for my Mom and Sister to come home and tell them the bad news...
After this happened we had a reinforced door with no window replace the busted one....
So, this is why i'm getting up and not assuming that it's L letting the dog out. I HAVE to check and make sure. I don't want to do this. (In fact i'm saying this over and over under my breath as I put on some clothes and load a mag into the gun and drop the slide, chambering a round) I go out to: "SEE WHAT THAT NOISE WAS!" (Dum-Dum DUM! sounds like a 50's horror movie title, doesn't it? well, sounds funny now, but it wasn't at the time.) I have the safety on, I can switch it off quickly enough, and the gun is down by my side, finger off the trigger, as I open the door...
To see light in the bathroom...
"L?" "Are you in the bathroom?" "yes..." "Did you let the dog out?"
"yes."
......"Okay."
And I slowly close the door and put the gun away. I didn't tell my sister why I was asking because I didn't want to worry her, so I kept my own counsel and went to bed...
A few days later though, My sis comes home from work and says something to me like, "I recognized the sound of that slide dropping! That's unmistakeable." (when I first bought a gun my mom wanted, I read everything I could get my hands on about gun safety. I also made sure my mom and sis were thoroughly versed in the safe handling of the gun, followed by explanations about how it worked and spending time at a range firing it so they would be familiar and comfortable with it as well as knowing how to use it in case of emergency) "Is that why you were asking me if the dog was out?" "yes." And then of couse, I explained to my sib the whole thing about the door opening and not knowing if there was someone in the house.
I am very fortunate to have a cool sister like that. One that knows how to properly handle a firearm, one that doesn't freak out at the sight of a gun or think that guns are evil. That they are just a tools to be used, for good or ill, like a car or a computer. And i'm especially glad that there was no one in the house...
When I was 15, someone broke into our house. They took a crowbar or a hammer and chisel and pried the deadbolt out/broke the window in the door ( actually what I think they did was use a crowbar on the window after the 'bar couldn't pry the door open. They then reached in and turned the bolt. you could see damage to the door and jamb as well as the window). I heard it. I was asleep at the time and the loud noise woke me up. He came into my room (I don't know why) and tried to turn on the light. The lightswitch in the wall didn't work. In my sleep dazed state, I mumbled, "try the other one"(!). I guess I thought, not fully awake, that he was someone who belonged there, family or friend. And then he turned around and left, saying nothing! I was VERY lucky. He could have slit my throat before I knew what was going on. Or shot me. Mercifully, he just left. I saw his half his face in the light of the hallway. He was male, long blond or light brown hair, with a moustache and relatively young (20 or 30's). After I had woken up enough to realize what had happened, I was shaken quite badly. I went to the side door and saw it hanging open, the deadbolt worked on and the glass broken. Cold fall air blowing in the house, no real way to close the door now that it was busted. It couldn't close or stay shut. There is nothing like having your house broken into to scare the living fucking crap out of you. It is a violation, a Rape of your home, your safety, and your sanctuary, the place where you feel safe. It is endangerment of your life and that of your loved ones, on par with a natural disaster hitting your house. So, I sat, and waited for my Mom and Sister to come home and tell them the bad news...
After this happened we had a reinforced door with no window replace the busted one....
So, this is why i'm getting up and not assuming that it's L letting the dog out. I HAVE to check and make sure. I don't want to do this. (In fact i'm saying this over and over under my breath as I put on some clothes and load a mag into the gun and drop the slide, chambering a round) I go out to: "SEE WHAT THAT NOISE WAS!" (Dum-Dum DUM! sounds like a 50's horror movie title, doesn't it? well, sounds funny now, but it wasn't at the time.) I have the safety on, I can switch it off quickly enough, and the gun is down by my side, finger off the trigger, as I open the door...
To see light in the bathroom...
"L?" "Are you in the bathroom?" "yes..." "Did you let the dog out?"
"yes."
......"Okay."
And I slowly close the door and put the gun away. I didn't tell my sister why I was asking because I didn't want to worry her, so I kept my own counsel and went to bed...
A few days later though, My sis comes home from work and says something to me like, "I recognized the sound of that slide dropping! That's unmistakeable." (when I first bought a gun my mom wanted, I read everything I could get my hands on about gun safety. I also made sure my mom and sis were thoroughly versed in the safe handling of the gun, followed by explanations about how it worked and spending time at a range firing it so they would be familiar and comfortable with it as well as knowing how to use it in case of emergency) "Is that why you were asking me if the dog was out?" "yes." And then of couse, I explained to my sib the whole thing about the door opening and not knowing if there was someone in the house.
I am very fortunate to have a cool sister like that. One that knows how to properly handle a firearm, one that doesn't freak out at the sight of a gun or think that guns are evil. That they are just a tools to be used, for good or ill, like a car or a computer. And i'm especially glad that there was no one in the house...
posted by Anonymous1066 at
7:17 AM
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