What was that? Oh my gosh, this ridiculous. I’m sixteen and here I am, jumping at the tiniest little noise, just because it’s dark. I’m fine. It was probably just the…house settling! Yes, that’s what it was! Just some creaky floorboards. But it didn’t sound like floorboards. No, not at all. It sounded like a voice. Oh, I’m just being silly! Hearing voices? They should lock me up. Hahaha…ha. Was that it again? I could’ve sworn I heard something again. No, no nothing. It was nothing! I mean, what am I going to do, go crawl in bed with Mom and Dad? Don’t make me laugh, I’m too old for that. EEK! There it was again! Age is relative, right? Physically I may be sixteen, but who knows how old I am mentally? Maybe when I was a kid something happened to me that retarded my mental growth! So it would be unfair to say I am babyish for wanting to go sleep in my parents’ bed? No! It would be cruel to say that to a sixteen year old with the mind of a pre-teen. And what if the noise was a burglar? My parents would be grateful for me to wake them up! I would be a hero! No, no. What am I kidding? Crawl into bed with my parents? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever thought. I still have my pride! I will close my eyes and gently drift off to sleep and dream of ponies and rainbows—THERE IT IS AGAIN! That noise. What if it’s a murderer? Surely he can hear my heart beating now. Half the northern hemisphere can probably hear my heart beating! Maybe that’s his plan! Scare the person you’re trying to kill so bad you can hear their heart beat. Then follow the sound, and WHAM. Person eliminated. That’s ingenious and despicable! Be quiet, heart. You’re going to give me away!

There. Now my heart is quiet and no more noises! That’s it. It was probably all in my head. I’m sure of it. Hahahaha. And to think I was going to crawl into bed with my parents! How childish. I would never ever really do that. Not really. And now to just drift off back to sleep. But maybe it wouldn’t hurt to turn on my old night-light. There. Now I can see a little. MMmmm… the bed is so warm and comfy and—AUGH! There it was again! The night-light has given away my position! Quick, quick turn it off! I think the noise was closer this time. He’s getting closer! I have to stop breathing so loudly, and heart--we’ve been over this-- quiet down! I wonder if I screamed now if my parents would make it to my room in time to see my murderer! At least then I would have justice! But I can’t scream, because then he might murder my parents, too! My only choice is to run for it, to their room! And if I don’t make it, then I can die knowing I tried to save them. And they’ll feel so bad about me dying, they’ll regret not buying me that cute Toyota our neighbor was selling. Well, it’s now or never. To my parent’s room, RUN!