The Final Straw
I once lived in a sort of bad neighborhood, in a very tiny house with just myself and my brother who was rarely there. It was an old house, so it was a little creepy and also felt like anyone who wanted to could have broken in. One night, I was getting ready for bed. It was pretty late on a hot summer night and we didn’t have A/C, so I opened my bedroom window.
I began to slip out of my clothes and change for bed. As soon as I put my pajama shirt on, I heard something that will forever stay seared into my brain. A low, masculine voice said, “Let’s see that chest again”. I think my whole body stopped working for at least five seconds while I absorbed the fact that there was a creepy man spying on me from right outside my window and I was alone in a house that he could easily get into if he so wished.
It was the first and only time in my life that I have ever called the local authorities. I had a full-blown panic attack while waiting for the officers to show up, and the very nice dispatch lady had to calm me down on the phone while I waited. On the bright side, it was an apparently slow night for the officers and they sent no less than three cars to come and help me.
I was so happy when I moved out of that house…