Prepper’s PING!
I came home from a 2.5 hour commute, and dropped onto the front room couch to rest a minute - not intending to go to sleep, but I did. It was daylight, so I had not turned on the lights, and no one in our neighborhood typically locks their doors till dark.
As bad luck would have it, Hubby had gone to sleep in an easy chair (unintentional too) in the basement family room while watching TV. The light was on as the part of the basement he was in was rather dark. He had also left the light on in our bedroom upstairs.
The kids went to bed at their regular bedtime - older kids one was a senior in high school and the other was around 8 yrs.
When the patio door opened, it woke me up. The moon was out so it was not as dark as it could have been. Looking toward the door, I saw the outline of a figure about the size of Hubby, and assumed it was him (3am in the morning).
I asked him what are doing outside at this hour? No response. This annoyed me. So with a bit of an edge/tone to my voice, I sat up and I said, “I asked you a question, why didn't you answer me?
The figure was now in the house - still by the door, and he froze. From the body language, I was suddenly aware that this was not my husband. That really changed my annoyance to out right anger and indignation.
I screamed at him like a banshee - Just who the h#ll are you and what the h#ll are you doing in MY HOUSE? There was a slight hesitation, then he turned and ran out the door, down the steps, and down the hill.
I quickly began locking all the doors and then checking all the windows while I was screaming as loud as I could for my husband. The kids came running, and I told the oldest to go get Hubby, sent the other to our bedroom - where the gun was kept as I finished making sure the doors were all locked.
After I explained what had happened, Hubby said it was probably just a bad dream - go back to sleep, but about that time a white scout(suv type vehicle) came roaring down the hill. We figure he parked uphill and then just walked down the hill trying doors, and ours happened to be open.
We called the sheriff. They asked is the intruder still there - we don't think he is still in the neighborhood. Is anyone hurt? No. Was anything taken? No. OK, be careful and call us back if you need us.....
Silly me, I thought they might actually come out and take a report, and maybe lift some finger prints off the door. NOOOO nada that was it.
The next day we notified all our neighbors in case he came back, and also to be sure they knew to lock up.
He was less than 11 feet away. If I had acted scared or uncertain, I wonder if he would have advanced instead of retreating. Anyway, we made it a habit to lock the door as soon as we got home from then on, even if it was daylight.