My Home Is Not Your Shelter... It's Barely Mine

The Beginning and The End

Knock… Scratch… Slam… I took a deep breath in, in preparation, only to open my eyes 
to a dark room. I was unable to focus my eyes enough to make out any figures, anywhere around
me. It was darker and blacker than what one would normally imagine when hearing the term
"pitch black." Nothing seemed to make sense at this moment for I had at least two scented 
plug-ins on different sides of the room and I was certain both had lights on them. The lights were 
small but big enough to be seen in this room when all the lights were off. I know that I've seen 
them before. I remember seeing them. In this darkened confusion, I thought to myself, "What are 
the odds of both of them going out on the same night? Slim to none, I would assume." 

I rolled my eyes and stretched while still laying flat in my bed, whispering to myself, 
"Why am I awake?" Turning now onto my side, I tried to focus my eyes yet again, but this time, 
to look at my side table where my alarm clock sat. Furrowing up my eyebrows, "Damn, the 
power must have gone out if I can't even see my alarm clock." I frantically slid my hands across 
the table and across the top of my bed trying to locate my phone. Grabbing a flat rectangular 
object, assuming that I found it, I began pressing all over the sides. I was pressing everything, 
looking for any button that would awaken my phone to make my screen light my way. The lock 
screen awoke with simultaneous vibrations followed by a warning that flashed across my screen. 
10% battery: activating low power mode. This, of course, meant my phone light would be 
dimmed until it died. That would then mean that not only did we lose power at some point, it 
happened at some point right after I fell asleep. My phone was apparently not charging while I 
was asleep and even worse, I just so happened to catch the time.

The time read 3:33am and I did not have to be up until at least 9:00am. The amount of 
time I had left to charge my phone, set some alarms, and possibly get some sleep was not the part 
that freaked me out. What freaked me out was the unknown amount of time I had before the 
lights were to come back on. I slid toward the edge of my bed with my dying phone screen 
lighting up existence only but a foot in front of me. I pointed my feet downward with my legs 
now hanging off the edge of the bed in order to sweep my toes across some floor to try and stand 
up. I had a big open bedroom with my bed pressed up against a wall directly across from my 
closed door. I knew nothing should be on my floor in front of the bed yet I stepped down lightly 
just in case my small dog was laying in her bed. She would often push her things to the foot of 
my bed as that was her favorite place to sleep. Feeling nothing but floor, I slid all the way down 
and tiptoed toward my door, stretching one hand out in front of me to feel for it. As I walked 
forward, I felt nothing but air. Inching toward the hallway I noticed that my once closed bedroom 
door was actually wide open. A familiar sound echoed in my room, making my heart race as if I 
was being chased.

Knock… Slam… Scratch… I remembered what woke me now right at that moment. I 
stopped moving, standing partially in the now open hallway, just outside of what should have 
been my closed bedroom door. This time the knocking got louder and farther apart, accompanied 
by scratching and whining. I knew that cry anywhere. It was my little dog. Even more frantic than 
the search for my phone, I began snapping to quietly call my dog to my side. I waited… She did 
not come. That was very unlike her to hear my signal and not be immediately by my side. I heard 
the knock turn into a pound on a door somewhere close. It sounded like it was coming from 
inside the house. I held my breath to listen closer and heard her cries again. They were now 
starting to turn into squeals and I felt a flush of horror wash over me. My dog isn't just any dog to 
me. She's my tiny best friend and I would do anything in my power to protect this little baby. 
She's my baby.

I now felt the strength to speak. "Mia!" I shouted. I heard the knocking stop but the 
scratching got louder as did her squeals. I ran in the direction of her cries in the pitch blackness of 
my house. This led me from the top floor of my three level house down into our basement with 
my phone battery warning alerting me to my now 5% remaining. I stopped dead in my tracks 
halfway down the basement stairs because her cries came to an awfully abrupt stop. I saw sparks 
in the corner of the room below as I started tiptoeing again to reach the floor. Once both feet 
touched down I focused on the direction of the sparks now which seem to be coming from a 
metal box in the wall. My eyes focused on the image shown in the corner in between flashes of 
light and dark before I realized what was causing the sparks. It was my fuse box. Someone or 
something had opened and smashed my fuse box to pieces with what seemed to be a large sword 
or an ax as the gashes were unimaginably big.