This bag of chips could have been my last

This happened to me when I was 8 or 9, so it was 1999-2000, and it's something that I've never forgotten. I found this sub and immediately remembered this incident. I hope it's appropriate and you find it entertaining.<br><br>I grew up in what most would consider a bad neighborhood in the bay area. Drugs and gangs, not unusual. Breaking into each other's houses and yards common. We lived in a two story house, me and my brother in the bedroom upstairs, with a window that opened up to a tree. (I think you know where this is going)<br><br>I had to stay home from school because I had a cold. I think it was spring break, because my older brother was home, too. He was 19 at the time. The weather was nice, and I remember being bored out of my mind because I didn't feel well enough to go out and play. Since it was a weekday, my parents were both at work.<br><br>I think I fell asleep, but was woken up by my brother's voice, very low, saying that there was someone in the back yard. I looked and saw someone in our yard. this wasn't odd, as kids like to cut through and there was a fence broken down between our yard and the next. (We didn't know the neighbors by name, just sight. We weren't friendly. I don't think the man was a bad person, just a victim of environment.) <br><br>We thought this person had cut through, although it was unusual for an adult. I noticed he had a bag of chips in his hand, and he was eating from it. I thought maybe he was coming from our house, since he was right at our back door, but he had broken in the wrong house. He actually broke into the house next door. Then I noticed the bag of chips, it was open, but it was in a flavor we didn't buy. It was a spicy flavor of Cheezits, and my brother and I both hated spicy. <br><br>I now realized that this was a man who had broken in our house. He was now bringing a chair from our yard to use to get into our house.<br><br>We crept through the house, downstairs to the front door. We unlocked it, went outside, and ran across the street to the house of a long time friend. She was at work, but her 2 daughters were there, one was around my age, the other babysitting. We told her what happened. She called the police and gave us each a cookie. I think my brother was in the kitchen with the older daughter, and I was sitting in the living room with the other girl.<br><br>I ate my cookie, thinking we were safe, I guess, that the cops would show up and scare the guy off. But, my brother is a lot taller than me. He can see above furniture, while I have to stand up on it.<br><br>My brother walked into the living room, his eyes wide and his face pale, and he started to slowly back up, telling us not to move, while he slowly backed into the kitchen. <br><br>So, the guy had used the chair, gotten into our house, he had been burglarizing, and gotten in our door to the yard, and was now moving through the yard. He had moved the chair to our front gate, and had opened it. He was now standing on the lawn across the street from us, eating from that damn bag of chips, looking at us through the windows of the house we were in. <br><br>Apparently, he had seen us run in the house, because as soon as my brother saw him, he started walking towards us. Slowly. He was still eating his chips. My brother ran into the kitchen and told the older girl what was happening. The police were on their way, but he was already across the street.<br><br>We were directed to the only tree in the yard, which was right next to the house. The window to the room my brother and I shared was right next to the tree. So we went and hid in that tree. I don't know how long we were there, but it seemed like forever. I think my brother was holding me the whole time. I don't remember the younger girl with us, so I don't know where she was.<br><br>The cops finally showed up, in a helicopter. The guy ran off. The cops chased after him. He was arrested a few blocks away. And we learned that he was the guy who had been breaking into a few houses on our block, including ours. He had stolen my Christmas gifts the year before.<br><br>I don't know why. But I have never forgotten about that bag of chips. Or the sound of the helicopter. Or how terrifying it is to feel helpless and like your life is in danger. Since I was a kid, it was particularly bad.<br><br>We felt safer, knowing this guy was caught. And we felt better knowing that our house was more secure than we thought. But it was scary.