I awoke abruptly to the obnoxiously loud sound of my phone ringing.  It was my boss. I overslept and was late to work...again. Ever since I moved from my old place just a few towns down, I’ve had a difficult time adjusting.  I’ve always lived alone ever since I first moved out of my parents house a while back. My friends would say I’m afraid of commitment and that’s why I would never move in with anyone, but I know it’s because I value independence.  On the other hand, if I did live with someone maybe I would have help and actually make it to work on time.

I work long hours, and when I am late like this, my hours gets even later.  My favorite part of the day is coming home and reading any book I can get my hands on while sitting on the couch.  I live everyday with a simple routine. Wake up. Go to work. Come home and read. Sleep. Repeat. It may not sound like much, but I find consistency comforting.  

However when I came home today, there was not the same consistency I strive for.  I stepped in my house and was greeted with the faint smell of cigarettes and gnawing feeling that someone was in my house.  I just ignored it because it’s been a long day and went right to bed. A lot of my coworkers smoke so maybe the smell had just gotten on to my clothes.

The next day I was able to make it to work on time but when I got home, I had that same feeling.  Except this time I noticed my stack of books I placed on my table to read have shifted to the left.  I could have sworn I specifically stacked them in the center but I guess the move is really exhausting me.

The next few days passed and everything was normal but I couldn’t shake the feeling I got the other day.  The feeling that someone was in my house. I am not one to typically believe in ghosts but I was starting to get desperately curious.  Was this one of those stereotypical “person dies and haunts the house” story? When I googled my address, something unusual came up. The first link to come up was titled “Forty-Two year-old Tom Davis goes missing, yet to be found”.  Sure enough, he did live in this house before me, but that’s just a coincidence. At least I hope.

As I left for work the following morning I saw my neighbor Kathy getting the mail.  I walked up to her hoping to see if she knew anything about Tom’s disappearance.

“Hi Kathy.  I was online yesterday and came across this missing person story, do you happen to know anything about Tom Davis?” I asked.

“Oh Tom!  I knew him.  Wow, what a shame that was.  He was a wonderful man. I use to help him care for his garden and house sit when he went on vacation”  Kathy said.

I asked her, “What do you think happened?”        

She responded with, “I’m not really sure.  All I know is one day I was helping him clean up his house and the next day he was gone.”

I then thanked her for the information and carried on to work.  After talking to her, I still couldn’t make sense of anything. Could he have died and is haunting the neighborhood?  Somehow that seems like the only reasonable explanation.

When I got home from work I noticed my mail had been brought from the mailbox to my doorstep.  I am now starting to doubt my ghost theory and I have got to find out what’s going on. Again the faint smell of cigarette smoke filled my nose coming from my stack of mail.  As I walked into the house I was greeted by the sounds of yelling and loud crashes. The TV was turned on. The very same television that I never even got the chance to set up.  Someone must be breaking into my house. As I was making dinner all of a sudden I came up with the urge to try and catch this person. I can call out of work and watch my house from the backyard.  A couple of weeks ago I would have been to nervous to see what was in my house, but this had been going on for a long time and it needs to come to an end.

The next morning I woke up at the usual time and got ready for the day.  Except today I called in sick and prepared to set up in the backyard. I hid between this striking oak tree and exuberant rows of bushes that lived in my yard.  My house had a set of large sliding glass doors towards the back that worked to my advantage as I could see clearly into my dining room with a set of binoculars.  As the afternoon approached, I doubted my plan. Nothing was happening. However, I reminded myself of all that happened since I moved in and it gave me a great sense of motivation.

Then, it happened.  I saw a dim flash of light, like a door had been opened.  I quickly placed my binoculars in position and stared very focused.  I saw a tall, skinny figure standing by the door way. As it came closer I could see the figure was a woman.  An elderly woman. Wait, could that be...Kathy? My next door neighbor? Why was she in my house? I quickly jumped up and quietly walked to the back of my house.  I was careful not to let her see me because I didn’t want her to get away.

When I reached the glass doors I quickly opened them and asked, “Kathy, what are you doing?”

She jumped back in a startled fashion but calmly said, “Oh, I just came in to straighten up a bit.  That’s what neighbors are for. We help each other.”

“How did you get in? That door was locked!”, I yelled.

“I have a key.  I made one years ago, so don’t worry I won’t ask for reimbursement.”, She said this with calm eyes, like nothing was out of the ordinary.  As if she didn’t even want to hide the fact that she broke in.

I then yelled at her to get out of my house and never come in again, that this was breaking in and she’s lucky I don’t call the police.  As she turned around to leave, I noticed a familiar rip in her lilac colored blouse, it was about three inches from the center back and less than an inch long.  It was my shirt. She had been wearing my clothes. Not only that but as she left, that familiar smoke smell approached me. That only reinforced my beliefs that she had done all of this.

That night I went to bed upset.  However I was so exhausted that falling asleep was easy for me.  And the next thing I knew I woke up with you guys at the front door.  And I’m still not clear as to what was happening.

“Thank you for your cooperation ma'am.  I think we have enough information now to tell you what we know.”, one of the police officers said.

“We we’re on our way to a noise complaint just down the road from you when we saw what looked like someone breaking into your house.  We pulled over and got out of the car to investigate. We knocked on the door and Kathy answered. We noticed that a knife had been removed from the knife rack in your kitchen and placed on the table.”, said the officer.

“Oh my God was she going to kill me?”

“We believe so.  We have always believed she had something to do with disappearance of Tom Davis.  We think she was breaking in to do what she believed was helping and when Tom disagreed, she lashed out.  Your story matches well and we have enough to get her sent away. Thank you again.” The officers then got up and left.