The Search

Better pay up!

The men in full tactical gear exited their vans with guns drawn and night-vision goggles in place. I counted 14 of them and they scattered around my building.

Then the power went dead.

Just like that.

Who were these people? What did they want? I’ve done nothing wrong. No one in my family did anything wrong. What do they want from us?

My husband and two kids were returning from an out of state soccer tournament. They wouldn’t be home for another two hours at least.

I checked but my cell phone had no reception.

What do they want?

The men rammed through the front door and I kept hearing the word, “Clear” as they searched each room. I could see the flashlights moving back and forth underneath the door. They were headed for my room.

When they finally kicked open the door to the room I was in, I heard, “Ma’am, we know you’re in here somewhere. We are here for your safety. You’ll have to come with us.”

The man’s speech was fine and I was about to rise until he said, “Now!”

As the saying goes, I’m definitely not in Kansas anymore and there was no one here to help me.

The man’s flashlight flashed over me once and then came back to me.

“Target located. Upper bedroom, west side. Repeat. Target located. Backup requested.”

“Ma’am, please come with me … for your safety.”

Pauline bolted up in bed, sweat pouring down her face. She tapped her husband who was still nestled under the covers.

“Honey, honey!”

“Huh? What, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“I think we should deal with those four unpaid parking tickets in the morning.”

“Yeah yeah, sure. All right. But it’s three in the morning.”

“Right,” Pauline said. “I just thought we might wanna do that tomorrow.”

“Ok, fine. Go back to sleep. We’ll deal with it in a few hours.”

It didn’t take long for her husband to be snoring away again, totally oblivious to the dangers she just dreamed about in their quiet suburban neighborhood.

“Tomorrow would have to be soon enough to pay those tickets,” Pauline whispered to herself.

*******