FOOTSTEPS

When I was in high school my parents let me stay out ‘til midnight on weekends. But, one Friday night I was having so much fun that I didn’t come home until after my curfew, after my parents had gone to bed. 

In order to make as little noise as possible, I decided to sleep on the living room sofa, instead of climbing the stairs and risk waking them up. 

So, I took my shoes off and lay down on the couch and quickly fell asleep.

I hadn’t been asleep for long before I heard someone walking around upstairs, and figured that it was already morning… I had gotten home late, after all.

I was sure that my younger sister would come down stairs, see me on the couch, and start talking to me. 

My only hope was to pretend I was asleep, so I turned over and faced the back of the sofa.

I could hear the sound of her footsteps as she walked around her bedroom and down the hallway above me. Then the sound changed as she started to come down the stairs. Step. Step. Step. Step.Step. I heard her reach the first landing. Then Step. Step. Step. Step. Step, and a thud as she got to the tile floor at the bottom. 

Her footsteps grew louder and came closer to me. It made me so mad that she was actually coming toward me when she saw I was sleeping, so I lay perfectly still and tried not to move a muscle. 

Hopefully she will leave me alone, I thought, but, no. Instead of backing off, she walked right up and stood behind me–so close that her legs pressed against the middle of my back on the edge of the couch. 

I was furious, but I continued to fake being asleep. 

Then, when I thought I was in the clear, she began running her hand up and down my spine, and it was more than I could take.

In one, swift motion I rolled over and punched at her, but nobody was there…