please

I woke up to the sound of the front door opening. I reached out to shake Anthony, but he was gone. I pulled off my sleep mask and sat upright in bed.

"Anthony?" I called out, peering out into the dark hallway. I got up, vaguely thinking about how it was time to dig out my slippers since the floor was so cold, and went out into the hallway. I looked into the kitchen and then turned.

There was a man standing by the door and he wasn't Anthony. Time seemed to stand still for a moment and I bolted back into the bedroom. I closed the door, turning the lock and stepping back. He stood looking in through the windows of the bedroom door for a moment before he turned. I could tell he was groping along the bookshelf for something to break the windows with and I sprang into action.

I raced into the office and grabbed the phone. I dialed 911, scarcely able to breathe as the sound of breaking glass came from behind me.

"911. What is your emergancy?" came an impersonal voice from the receiver.

"There's someone in my apartment!" I told her, eyes staring into the bedroom as the man's hand reached in and was fumbling for the lock on the bedroom door.

"Hello?"

"There is someone-"

"Hello? What is your emergancy?"

Then I remembered that the phone wasn't working. The receiver was broken and speaking into it was useless.

Tears sprung to my eyes and I turned to the backdoor. There was a pile of things in front of it from when Anthony had been cleaning a few days before. I dropped the phone and grabbed the first thing: the Pepsi cooler. I had just reached for the second when a hand grabbed my arm. I swung around and looked up into the man's dark eyes.

"Please." I managed to choke out. "Don't hurt me."

That's when I woke up.

posted by Lisa at 8:44 AM |