The Intruder

The story of coming face to face with the man

At 2 am I was still tossing and turning nursing an upset stomach. Maybe it was the many drinks from the night before’s party or perhaps it was the massive spread of food that our host graciously provided.

Whichever had caused it, as I descended the stairs, I knew I needed some relief from this misery.

As I crept toward the kitchen, walking past the living room, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Thinking it was the dog, I turned to see what he had gotten himself into.

That’s when I saw the man standing there. I froze in fear, realizing what was going on. I wish I could have moved, to shout out, or do something. But when this situation happens to you, your animal instincts to survive kick in.

I watched the large man as he moved about, lowering his bag to the floor, opening it to begin his work. All I could do was stand and watch as my life flashed before my eyes.

Had I been a good person, had I done everything I could to help friends and family? Weighing my behavior against that invisible scale you learned early as a child, wondering what the next few minutes will bring.

How he hadn’t heard me, I’ll never know, but I was eerily transfixed how he was meticulous in his work, inspecting each item as if they were a priceless artifice. I continued to watch as my heart beat faster and faster, knowing he was finishing up and wondering what would happen next.

He turned slowly toward me, and I knew this was it. Our fated meeting was mere seconds away. All I could think was, wow, he is a big guy, at least 6 inches taller than me, and outweighing me by a considerable amount.

Just as things were going to get interesting, my dog padded into the kitchen, exploding into a run upon seeing the intruder. He knocked over the trash can as he streaked past me toward the man. I yelled, “No, Max,” but it was too late.

There was a loud crash as Max barreled into him. I quickly turned and flipped on the lights hoping to surprise him and get things under control. But, when I looked in the room, fire still burned in the fireplace; all I could see was the mess Max made, the tree toppled over, cookies littering the floor, and the presents cast about the room.

The man was gone, and for an instant, I could have sworn I saw a blur of red and white before he seemingly vanished into thin air.