Things that Go Bump in the Night

I experienced one of the single scariest moments of my life last night. I think my heart is still beating out of my chest…

I woke up last night around 12:30 to what sounded like someone trying to stick their key in our lock, then jiggling more keys around, then trying another key in the lock. I lay there listening, trying to make sense of it for a couple minutes. Possibilities kept running around in my head…Did Sarah go somewhere? Is Sam, our landlord, trying to get in our apartment at night?…Is it the neighbor? Our walls our really thin…

I couldn’t figure it out, so I sat listening, wondering what the hell I should do. It stopped for a minute, but I could still hear the person jingling through their keys and searching, perhaps for one that fit? It sounded like a damn janitor on the other side. So, I tiptoed to the front door, and peered out our peephole. I couldn’t see anyone in the hallway. I slowly clicked the deadbolt, and moved the eye hole around to see if I could see our neighbor’s door. (Her apartment is located in a corner by ours.) Nope, no one. I stood there for a minute, and suddenly a man started walking down the hallway, toward the peephole in our door, and started trying a key in the lock again. I seriously freaked the fuck out. What, exactly, is one supposed to do in a situation like this? The only thing between me and him was a slab of wood. In that split second, I wondered if he was going to get the door open while I was standing, peering at him, from the other side.

I quickly banged on the door and yelled, “Hey! What are you doing?!”

The man, who looked like he was in his mid-50s, with a ponytail, hat and backpack slung over his shoulder, backed up, looked at the door, and turned around and walked back down the hall.

I immediately flew in Sarah’s room, threw on her light, and said, “Sarah! Wake-up! Someone just tried to get into our apartment!”

The two of us couldn’t decide if it was someone in our building, who was drunk, and at the wrong door, or if it was actually someone who shouldn’t have been in our building. Our landlord strikes me as someone who wouldn’t have ever had the locks changed, and there was only one person it could be—the guy that lives directly below us. The other apartment below is empty, and the person on the bottom level wouldn’t accidentally take the elevator to our apartment. We decided to call the cops, just to be safe, but we opted for the non-emergency line. They came and checked things out, and both of us were eventually able to go back to sleep. However, we’re both feeling a little uneasy about the situation. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life. It’s moments like these that I wouldn’t mind having a big buff man with tattoos around to protect me…

Currently Feeling: A little coffee overkill. I’m just so addicted to the sugar-free French vanilla coffee creamer that Larisa introduced me to!
Currently Anticipating: Figuring out if the intruder last night was a mistaken neighbor.
Currently Hating: That I’ve been waking up to sunshine, dressing accordingly, then going home to cold and rain. It’s damn confusing!