Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.
Raymond Lindquist
The house was a mess. There was stuff all over the place, chairs tipped over, drawers open, rugs and clothes in heaps in random places across the house, and broken picture frames scattered all over the floor.
“Who on earth would do this? Who could hate us this much to want to break in to our house and cause so much damage?” I thought to myself.
Mike came speeding into the driveway within five minutes of me calling him.
He came rushing to the door yelling, “Rorey, Rorey, are you ok? What happened? Is everything ok?”
The questions came to a screeching halt when he reached the door and seen the immense damage that had been done.
“Oh my goodness,” He exclaimed, “Who would do this?”
“I have no idea. I feel like there aren’t too many people that know that my parents are gone. People didn’t know that I was gone, or that my sisters were at work. Someone had to be watching the house to take in that kind of information,” I answered.
“This is crazy. We need to call the cops. Are you sure he isn’t still here?” He asked.
“No, I’m not sure of anything, but you’re right we should call the cops.” I responded.
“911 State your emergency.”
“Hi, yes this is Rorey, my house has been broken into and I was hoping you could send a cop to investigate.”
The dispatcher got the rest of my information and promised there was someone on the way. She warned me to pay attention to make sure the thief was not still in the house. Mike and I decided we should get in his truck, lock the doors, and wait for the cops. Within about 30 minutes the cops arrived at my house. When they got there, we got out of the truck and started giving them information. They decided they wanted to do a full on search of the house before letting us come in, just to make sure it was safe. After five minutes of what seemed like endless waiting, they came out and declared the house “clear” for us to enter. We climbed out of the truck and followed the cops in to assess all the damage that had been done.
“Something you need to really pay attention to is if anything is missing.” The sheriff explained, “Sometimes when people break in, they do so just to damage the house and scare you, not always to steal things, but with a mess like this, it is easy to overlook something that may be missing. It would be wise of you to get in some other family members to asses with you so that you don’t miss anything. “He explained kindly.
I couldn’t believe that never ran through my head to call my sister. Of course she would come home. I quickly dialed my sister’s number and explained everything to her in one quick breath. She told me she would be there right away. The next few hours were exhausting. I couldn’t believe this was happening. What a terrible week. After assessing the house intently for 3 hours, we came to the conclusion that the only thing we couldn’t find was our journals. It was quite strange really. Both of us girls keep journals, something our mother taught us when we younger. Emma was the first one to realize hers was missing. After she noticed hers missing I checked for mine in my secret hiding place. Sure enough, it was gone. That seemed so strange to not only me, but the police as well.
“Can you think of anyone who would want both of your journals?” asked the sheriff.
We both looked at each other as if staring at one another could bring forth the answer.
I spoke first, “I honestly cannot think of anyone who would do this for my journal. I don’t understand why you would tear up an entire house for two sister’s journals.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” the sheriff responded.
“Why is that a bad thing?” Emma asked.
“Well, because if there is nothing socially going on with you guys and anyone else, the robber could have possibly wanted your journals for information. You know things like, information to accounts, information about upcoming vacations or trips, plans to be gone for certain periods of time, that sort of thing.” He answered.
“That is weird that he broke in and caused this much damage, only to plan another attack. There was plenty around for him to take if he wanted to. Why go to that much trouble without taking anything else?” I questioned.
“Well, that is a good question that no one really knows the answer to. Something we need to try and figure out.”
“So how do we do that?” Emma asked.
“You need to contact your parents. Fill them in on what’s going on. See if there is anyone they could suspect or any reason they would know of for someone to do this. Let me know what you find out. After that, I have written down all I could and taken pictures. Lastly I need to go out and check for foot prints and tire tracks. That is really all we can do. I will go back to town and keep my ears open for any strangers that have passed through town, or suspicious activity. For now though, I would recommend keeping your doors locked.”
“Thanks officer, we appreciate your help.” I answered.
“Mike, will you be staying here tonight?” the Sheriff asked.
“Yes Sir, I will be.” He answered.
“Good, I think keeping a man around till everyone gets home and settled again would be a smart idea.” The Sheriff said.
At that point Emma and I both knew that any protest would be pointless so we just settled with the idea. The Sheriff went outside took lots of pictures and measurements. He came in to check on us one last time and make sure we didn’t need anything. After he left we started making phone calls. Emma called Mom and Dad and I called Jannett. Mike went out to his truck, tied on his gun holster, and came back inside. He told us it was for safety precautions. Following the phone calls and target practice we locked the doors and settled down at the table to try and eat dinner.
Emma noticed my frequent checking of the clock and picked up on my anticipation to get back to the hospital and said, “Rorey, you are welcome to go back to the hospital, I will be fine here by myself.”
“No, I am not going to leave you guys here tonight,” I replied.
“I will be fine Rorey. You and Mike really should get back,” She answered.
“Oh no, no one is getting rid of me that easy. It just doesn’t seem like a good idea for no one to be here tonight and even less to let someone be here alone tonight. Rorey, you really should get some sleep before getting back to the hospital. That’s why you came home in the first place remember?” Mike replied.
I tried to protest, but Emma chimed in, “Rorey, Mike is right, you need to get some sleep.”
I went to bed to get some sleep before heading back to the hospital. When I finally climbed in bed and let myself relax, I replayed the events of the previous day in my head. My, what a day it had been. In all of this, I had forgotten about Jeff. Where had he gone? Was he upset with me? Yes, of course he was upset with me, but what could I do about it? I mean it’s not like I knew he was coming. I didn’t have any idea that he was going to move to Idaho to go to school. It’s not like I asked him to do this. I haven’t even been in contact with him. What a weird day. Then there were things with Charlie. Were we “officially dating” now? He did tell the doctor I was his girlfriend. I guess there were just more conversations to come with him. What about the house? Who on earth would do this to our house? Why would someone do that to anyone’s house? And why on earth would they take my journal. I know the Sherriff thought it could be for informational purposes, but I wasn’t sure I was buying that. I mean, there were calendars and planners on both of our desks and on the kitchen table and they didn’t take that. Then a thought popped into my head… No he would never. Ok, I finally told myself, you have to get some sleep. I drifted off into a deep sleep. I dreamt of lolly pops and fields of daisies. Unfortunately, my dreams didn’t stay sweat for very long. I woke up at 2 a.m. in a cold sweat. I was dreaming of the robber breaking into my house. He was wearing a ski mask, all black clothes, and black gloves, as if not to leave behind any finger prints. He said put your hands up and tell me where you keep your journals and no one will get hurt. I looked in his eyes and I recognized them. I was just about to say his name when I woke up. Whose eyes were those? I recognized them. They were very distinct. I rolled over and tried to take a deep breathe. I got up and went to the window. Just as I reached the window I seen a shadow running back behind the barn.
“MIKE, MIKE, MIKE.. WAKE UP! WE HAVE TROUBLE!”
