Dangerous

• Hannah Hicks, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2012

I'd had a long day at work. As I reached the front door of my inner city apartment I slid my hand into my pocket and pulled out my set of keys, flicking through them to find the one for my front door.
The door creaked slightly as I opened it, just enough to reach my arm inside and flick the slight switch with my index finger. The hallway instantly flooded with light.
I wales inside and kicked the door shut behind me, dunping my work bag against the wall, I would empty the contents in the morning.
"Isabelle" I called out to my sixteen year old daughter as I walked past her bedroom door, "are you home?" I waited for a reply but there was nothing but silence. "she must be sleeping" I muttered to myself.
I walked into the lounge room and chose a book from the bookshelf and went to sit down in my favorite armchair. Judging by my watch it was about eleven fifteen at night.

I wasn't aware of the time that had passed but I guessed it to be early morning, I had fallen asleep in my chair.
There was a shuffling noise in the hallway, followed by creaking, obviously the front door. I assumed it was Isabelle coming home from a late night out.
"Crap" I heard a voice say, it was a mans voice, definitely not Isabelle at all.
I started to get a horrible feeling in my gut, I got out of my chair slowly and reached for the light switch in the lounge room. It wouldn't turn on, I went to the kitchen and tried that light, that one didn't work either. Whoever was in my house had cut the power off before they came in.
I could hear heavy footsteps walking up the hallway towards my bedroom which was also not far from the lounge room where I was at.
I needed to warn Isabelle, I had no idea if this man was dangerous or not so I quickly walked to her door, opening the handle and peering inside to see if she was in there. She was sleeping, I went to her bedside and nudged her gently, "wake up Belle" I whispered.
She stirred, turned on her side and looked at me with tired eyes, "what do you want Dad? It's only three in the morning" she said, glancing towards her digital alarm clock.
"There's an intruder in the house" I replied.
All of a sudden her face got serious, "are they armed?" she asked nervously.
"I'm not sure" I said, "wait here I'll go and see where he's at" I left the room and checked to see if he wasn't anywhere in sight. The coast was clear so I tried to listen and see where the noises were coming from. It was still quite dark so I had to rely on my hearing more than anything.
SMASH! Was the sound of cups breaking on the floor, I knew then that he was in the kitchen. I had no idea what he was looking for, because there wasn't really anything of value in there.
I looked through the door and spotted him, rummaging through every drawer and cupboard, occasionally stuffing something into a large black garbage bag.
I was going to confront him, "what are you doing in my house?" I asked sternly.
As soon as I said that he jumped a little in surprise, He reached
into his brown coat and pull out a handgun, pointing it in my direction...