Home Alone, Until...

This happened a few years ago, when I was 15. I'm a girl, and at the time, I was pretty much a loner. I was home alone one day, because my mom was at work, my dad was traveling, and my older brother had just left for college.<br><br>I was lying in my bed, studying for a test I had the next day, when I heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. I looked at my phone to see what time it was. 9:30 p.m. I could have sworn I'd locked the door, but I was pretty sure I was just being paranoid. After all, who would be out at this time of the morning, walking around the neighborhood? Still, better safe than sorry.<br><br>I walked to the front door and made sure it was locked, before closing all the blinds and curtains in the house. Then I ran to my parents' bedroom, locked the door, and got a baseball bat from under the bed. If someone *had* broken in, then they wouldn't have gotten into this room. It was my safe haven.<br><br>I sat on the bed, waiting, until around 11, when I heard footsteps coming from downstairs. They were heavy, and it sounded like whoever it was had just taken off their shoes at the door. I gripped the bat tighter, wondering what to do. I didn't have a phone, so I couldn't call 911, and I really didn't want to walk downstairs and find out who it was. What if they were armed? Would I be able to defend myself with this bat? Anyways, it's not like I could have walked downstairs and gotten a phone without them hearing me.<br><br>I fumbled with the locks on the door, before deciding to make a run for it. I opened the door, bat still in hand, and made my way down to the kitchen. There, I found a phone, and dialed 911. I hid behind the island in the kitchen, waiting for the police to show up, and praying that whoever was in the house wouldn't come in and find me.<br><br>The rest is a blur, except I know that the police came and arrested a man who was sticking his hand in the fridge at the time. They said he had gotten into our house by picking the lock on the front door. When I asked him how he had gotten into my parents' bedroom, he said he had gotten in through an open window.<br><br>I never mentioned this to anyone before, until now. Partly because I was scared, but also because I think if my parents had found out about it, they would have killed me for not going to them about it earlier.