Burglar

It was late night when he reached his front door, he was exhausted, working and studying was no easy deal, although he knew it had to be done. He had moved out recently and his apartment, though small, felt like home to him. He put the key in the lock and turned it pushing the door open. It surprised him to see the bedroom light was on but just shrugged it off thinking he might had left it on before rushing out that morning. He went straight to the kitchen, dropped his backpack, kicked off his shoes and opened the fridge looking for something cold to drink. He sat down and drank his water between sighs of content for being finally home and having reached Friday night with no incidents, now he’d be able to get some rest for a couple of days.

Suddenly, he heard a noise coming from the bedroom, he stood up and grabbed the first thing he had at reach, a ladle. He looked at it and shook his head holding back a chuckle and opened the knife drawer catching the biggest one he could find. He was barefoot so he made no noise as he edged his way towards the bedroom, keeping his back to the wall and the knife tightly in his grip. His mind was reeling in disbelief that a burglar might have violated his home, this thought made him utterly angry, but he knew better than just to jump into the attack, in case the thief had a gun or something he could harm him with. Slowly, as he reached the door to the bedroom, he became more and more nervous, drops of sweat slid down his face, once or twice straying into his eyes making them sting.

He needed to remain calm and keep on moving, inch by inch. Should he dial the police on his mobile? No, that would mean talking and explaining things, and he couldn’t do that without being heard by the thief. It was obviously one burglar, since there was no talking or whispering in the bedroom and the noise was very little as if the person was quiet and just touching things. How silly this burglar was, enter a small apartment at this time of night and leave a light on, It was obvious someone would come in and see the lights and hear the noises!

This thought made him have to hold back another chuckle and stop for a few moments to calm down. He knew it was a nervous reaction but he felt like bursting out in laughter, and this was not the time for it. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths wondering how it was possible that burglar had not heard him come in, he was sure he had made some noise coming into the apartment, and the door had this funny creaky noise every time it was opened or closed. He shook his head thinking this burglar must be a complete moron and once more had to repress the need to laugh loudly. He looked at the knife in his hand and gripped it tightly as to remind him this was serious business, and he was in charge of solving this situation. He was a few steps from the door and could see the mirror reflecting his bed. There was something on the bed, he couldn’t tell what exactly it was, but it was pale and had the shape of a… a foot? He couldn’t believe the burglar would have climbed on to his bed barefoot; it was outrageous!

He strained his eyes trying to see more, maybe find out if the thief was lying on his bed, which might give him a slight advantage, the element of surprise. He moved just a little bit closer and tried again; there seemed to be a body lying on the bed; his mind started reeling again, maybe it wasn’t a burglar, perhaps someone had decided to frame him for murder? But who would do that, he knew nobody who would do anything like that; actually, he was pretty sure none of his acquaintances had anything to do with crimes. Or maybe… had the burglar decided to take a nap in the middle of stealing his stuff? The few things he had and valued? That was even more outrageous and ridiculous!

He took a deep breath and stepped into the room… he looked at the bed stunned and burst out laughing uncontrollably. The person who was sleeping on the bed jumped awake and stared at him as if he was crazy, then looked at his hand and understood the whole thing. She leapt off the bed and into his arms to hug him and to whisper “Happy Anniversary, my love!” into his ear.