The Gentle

Ever since Marcie was born I’d been a light sleeper, often waking up when she uttered a sound or brushed against the side of her bassinet or crib. It wasn’t something Marcie did this time. What woke me up early Monday morning was the sound of someone jiggling the front door knob.

As usual I’d left the door to our room open so the light from the foyer would help us to check on Marcie during the night without having to turn on a light in our room. I sat up to clear my head in order to determine if what I’d heard was real, or if I was having a dream. The sound of shattering glass was definitely real.

I carefully got out of bed and tiptoed to peek out our open door. What I saw was also very real. An arm in a black sleeve was reaching through the broken side window to unlatch the lock above the inside door knob. It had not yet removed the chain which was almost a foot above the lock. Hoping I had time, I ran back to our bed, shook Peggy, and while I was pulling on my pants and putting on my slippers, told her to run to Toby’s room and tell him someone was breaking into the house. Not waiting for her response I hurried back to the door to our room,

By now the intruder had the door slightly open but the chain was keeping the person from entering. As the door closed and the arm reached higher to unlatch the chain I crept down the steps as quietly as I could. Knowing I couldn’t be seen by the intruder because of how he would have to hold his face against the door to reach up to the chain, I stood directly behind the door. Once the chain was removed the door slowly opened. As the opening widened I continued to move behind it. The moment the person was inside the foyer I pounced on his back and pinned his arms to his sides. For a second or so he was too surprised to resist, but once the surprise passed, his resistance was swift and painful.