We’ll be back in a couple of hours,” they said to me as they strolled out the door. “Ok,” I stammered as I feared my parents and my brother leaving me home alone for the first time. Each thing in the house seemed to be just waiting for them to leave, waiting to pounce on me. I had been looking forward to this for such a long time, but now all of a sudden it didn’t seem so enjoyable. As they went out the door, I went to the window to wave goodbye to the rest of my life. They waved back at me nonchalantly, not understanding the fear that was inside of me. As they pulled out of the driveway, all the usual safety was whisked from the house, like a toilet being flushed. Then it all began.

This was the first time I had ever been alone. Sure, my brother and I had been home alone together, but this was different. It was just me and the house, taking on all of the robbers and bad guys out there that were coming after me because of course, my parents weren’t home. Well, now the question was, “What do I do?” I quickly ran through the house, turning each light on, so that I could go into each room without the fear of a wicked witch or an axe murderer emerging from the shadows intent on killing me. I was tactfully creeping from one room to the next, when I heard a deafening roar coming from everywhere, I thought. There was no doubt in my mind that an airplane was about to hit my house or a bulldozer about to run it over—something disastrous. I ran through the house screaming, when all of a sudden, I felt a breeze rush from the vent in the floor. “Oh,” I said sheepishly. “It’s just the stupid heat.”

It had only been a couple minutes since my parents had left and I thought I had had enough. Then I decided “I can watch T.V. and I’ll be fine and have some fun.” I flipped on the tube and avoided any violent shows, for fear of being brought into a mindset of an imminent attack on my house by a band of robbers. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw headlights coming down the road in front of my house. “Well I’ll just check to make sure they don’t pull into my driveway,” I said. I continued to do this for each car that passed. Then, the most terrible thing happened: one of the passing cars pulled in and began barreling up my driveway. As it got closer, I realized that it was an old rickety truck, and one that I had never seen before. This freaked me out of my mind, so I shakily went over to the phone, picked it up, and began to dial the number of my parents’ cell phone as I hid below the window next to the front door. To worsen my fears, my parents did not pick up the phone. I am a bit embarrassed to say what happened next, but if you can believe it, I went to my room and loaded my bb gun. I peaked out the window very carefully, only to see that I knew the person, and they were unloading some chairs and putting them next to our garage. I breathed a sigh of relief as I went and sat back down, fearing the darkness that began enveloping the house.

As the night wore on, I continued to check each car that went by—just to be safe. Fortunately, there were no more problems and I even had a little fun playing my Super Nintendo. It wasn’t all fun and games from there on out, though. I thought for sure that a bad guy was trying to break in when a tree branch fell on top of the roof. I refused to go outside, but I grabbed my dad’s 2 million-candle-power spotlight and flashed it out the window. What I saw outside appalled me—a set of green eyes, reflecting in the light’s beams, was staring back at me. I screamed out loud and dropped the flashlight. Once again, I went to my room and loaded my bb gun. I went back to the window, ready for anything—even a guy crashing through the window. As I refocused the light, I was able to make out a squirrel. “Get a hold of yourself,” I said to myself out loud. The night continued on pretty slowly, but I got through it with only a few cuts and bruises, but a new understanding of independence.

Staying home alone was something that I had to do sooner or later. When I finally did it, I realized that it was a great experience for me—it was a coming of age opportunity. Each time I stayed home alone, it became a bit easier and some of the noises in the house became oblivious to me. I faced my fears that very first night, which was the first step in the stairs of growing up—when I began earning some independence. Now I can’t wait for my parents to leave so I can have the house to myself.