An hour ago, I was lying on my mom’s couch, talking to my dad on the phone. He asked me if I had his screwdriver. I said I wasn’t sure and I needed to go out to the backyard to look in his toolbox which I had borrowed the week before. I went out to the back porch and opened the metal box. All of the sudden, I saw a shadow of what looked like a running man and then I heard a door slam. It looked like someone had gone into the back house. I was scared so I ran back inside and locked the door.

            I told my mom about what I saw and I told my dad I would call him back soon. My mom and I closed all of the blinds, turned off the lights, and peered out of the back window while we tried to decide who to call to come over. My dad just had an operation and is still recovering so he wasn’t an option. We decided to call our neighbor from down the street. He told us to call the security company and have them come check it out. He also told us he would come over to wait with us. He came right over with a big aluminum bat and a knife. He said he would have brought his nunchucks over too, but because we had called the cops, he decided not to bring his lethal weapons.

            The security company took a long time to get here. We called again to make sure they hadn’t forgotten.  When they did show up, it was just one officer. He was chubby and quiet and not too thrilled about the idea of going into that back house alone. He said back up would be on the way. He went into the back yard, pulled out his gun, and stood there for a few minutes. Hearing nothing, he came back over to us and said he thought we should call the L.A.P.D. He then said that his own backup was definitely not coming and he didn’t think it smart to go in by him self. We called the cops and they promised they’d be on their way.

            The doorbell rang. It was another officer from the security company. Our little guard’s backup had shown up after all and they decided to go check out the situation. After thoroughly searching the back house and the entire back yard, they assured us no one was out there. Then, the newer guard pulled my mother aside and asked her if I was alright. He wanted to make sure I wasn’t crazy. He also wanted to know if I had been drinking or if I took drugs. He said he was just expected to trust everybody, but sometimes people did drugs. My mom assured him I was fine.

            Just as we were thanking the officers for their assistance, we heard someone else arrive. We thought it was the cops, but it turned out to be a third officer from the same security company. He was short, but he was so buff that he was almost ripping through his shirt like the Incredible Hulk. I called the cops back and told them they didn’t need to come after all.