Bumps in the Night

So last night the household was minding its own business in the usual way for 3:30 am. Sleeping soundly. As the Christmas story goes, not a creature was stirring. All adults, all dogs, all passed out. And then the phone rang. The offending mobile phone was answered by its owner, which woke up half the household. (The half of the household that doesn't need assistive devices to hear or interpreters to determine dreams from reality.)

And then the noise happened. Seriously--sounded like a gunshot. Right below my window. Of course, things are louder at night than they are on TV and so the noise could have originated from a 50 yard radius. I've had crisis training. I know what to do in an institutional building if there's danger. You're supposed to lock the door, turn off the lights, and hide out of the sight of windows.

So I left the room, and sat in the foyer where there are lots of windows. I was out of sight of the windows though. I was. Because I was terrified. How often does the phone ring, someone answer it (at 3:30) and then you hear a gunshot right outside the house? Never in my life. So I had to do roll call.

Thankfully everyone was alive and the house was not being stormed by mobsters, or a gang interested in the last two pieces of birthday cake in the kitchen. But still, the noise? It wasn't normal. And I was terrified and not moving from my spot on the floor outside of my bedroom door outside of the sight of windows. So I made Dad call 911 to report whatever it was we heard. They promised to send a car by to cruise the street and take a look.

So at 3:45, it's time to move on and go back to sleep. No way am I going to sleep on the room over the street where the gunshot noise had happened and was VERY LOUD.

"Carolyn, you can sleep in here."
"Nope, that's okay." (I'm am an adult, after all, I think. Sometimes)

Then I hear:
"Honey, you should go get her."

Ummm...
"I can HEAR you!"

So I opened my door, scooped up Ry and made a run for it across the hall (in front of windows) to crawl into bed beside Mom. Ted followed. And then he had to sniff the strange room. And Ry had to lick all the people in the bed. And Ted had to scratch (he has a very jingly collar right now). And then we all pretended to sleep.

Until Dad must have decided that 4:30 is an acceptable time to get up and go to work because no one was really sleeping except Mom and I'm surprised at that because an extra person and a dog in the bed probably made her too hot.

When Dad, apparently, made it safely through breakfast and morning news and walking the dog outside without being gunned down by mobsters or people after the cake, I decided I could go back to sleep in my own room.

I am, after all, an adult.....sometimes.