Intruder

So this was the end. I had so much potential, but here I was about to die. I just knew it was going to be tonight. The scratching was basically in my room. 

The headlines would read "Two girls found murdered in their bed." And would go on to describe how tragic it was for the family. Mom and Dad would finally know we weren't imagining the noises from the chimney, and find out that the man had slowly scraped his way into the house, right under their noses. How he knew to stop his noise-making as soon as they were near, I would never know. 

I would never know a lot of things. 

I can die, I'm not scared. I feel my adrenaline slow down a small fraction. In fact, I'm rather excited to die! I wonder if they'll read and publish my journals. I bet boys will profess their love for me right over my casket. Dying will simply be an adventure. I can watch from the other side as they mourn and realize how much they miss me. It's like that song about dying young, it's sure to be romantic and full of bittersweetness. I always hated the idea of growing up, so this was simply a problem solver that I'd appreciate for preventing me from all that adult-ish stress that seems to consume people. So really, I don't mind dying tonight.

It is so loud now, he'll come bursting through any moment. I grab my sister's hand with panic, any quelling of adrenaline after my long self pep-talk is gone. I can't breathe.

"I know what it is!" Kate's whisper reaches through the darkness to pull on my sensitive ears. "It's just Deric making a tunnel through the chimney to connect our rooms! That way, when it's Christmas or we want to stay up late without Mom and Dad knowing, we can just hide in the tunnel! Don't be afraid, he's gonna bust through the wall and we'll have a good laugh!"

I feel her encouraging smile and confidence. What a silly story, she waits for me to decide. "Oh yeah! That's it. And that way he can get to the kitchen faster! It all makes sense now!" I play along. 

Now it's all giggles and hand squeezes and the sleep will come before he does.