A rapid knocking at half past midnight yanked me out of sleep with my heart racing. Sitting up on the couch (I had fallen asleep reading a book) I felt my heart in my throat. Barely breathing, my eyes darted back and forth searching to know, “Who is knocking at my door in the middle of the night?”
I wondered, but I had absolutely no intention of opening that front door to see.
I was alone for the time. I clicked on the lamp by the couch.
No spooky face peered in the span of windows off the front porch.
Paralyzed with fear of an unknown presence, I eased off the couch and tip-toed down across the room expecting the unexpected to jump out at me at any time.
Fighting fear, holding my breath, I slipped into the kitchen and down the hall turning on lights in the hall, the guest bathroom, the bedrooms, laundry room, the sewing room and the master bedroom.
Lights on, someone is home, so go away mysterious knocker.
My heart moved a notch closer to normal as I peered around corners into closets.
Feeling a bit more confident, I walked back to the dining room, switched on all three yard lights and the porch lights. I squinted through the dark of the windows.
No one seemed to be out there at the moment.
I had no interest in opening a door to be certain.
I left the lights on all around and all through the house.
As awake as the house, I picked up the novel I had been reading and sat on the edge of the couch, too wired up to sleep, ready to use that hard backed book to whack any stranger who dared knock at my door in the wee hours of the night.
An hour or two of reading slowly drained the adrenaline rush and sleep tugged at my eyes.
Yawning, I stood up and walked to the bedroom turning off the inside lights, — well some of the inside lights. I actually left on all the outside lights and lights in every room with a door I could close. I would challenge that unseen knocker with lots of lights.
Lights on. Someone is home, albeit in bed and finally sleeping again.
As the next night approached, I remembered the mysterious midnight knocker and went through the house turning on bedroom, living room, kitchen, porch and yard lights. I might be alone in the dark, but outsiders would have to stand in the light to come knocking at my door during the night. It might increase the electric bill, but who cares about the cost of electricity after such a rude awakening in the middle of the night? I left the lights on every night for the next week. As the nights passed with no further knocks, I left fewer lights burning inside the house. I relaxed on the couch reading another book and was too tired to walk to my bed. I clicked off the light only to be yanked awake at 3 a.m. When a bright light flashed across my face.
Say what?! I had turned off all the lights.
The computer monitor glowed in triumph. For some reason that machine decided it needed lights, camera, action at 3 a.m. with no one sitting in front of it. I walked across the room and snapped off the monitor and computer.
I laid down on the couch and began reading. Knocks in the night, lights on the eyelids, no rest for the weary.
A few days later as I walked past the refrigerator a I heard the rapid knocking of knuckles on a door. The sound came from the compressor on the fridge. In the light of day, wide awake and taking care of business, it was not one bit scary and it was no where nearly as loud as it had sounded in the middle of the night. I had found my middle of the night knocker.
That night I turned off most of the lights and retired to bed where I slept soundly until morning.
Next time when something goes bump in the middle of the night I will not be alarmed. I will turn on all the lights and find it.
Joan Hershberger is a staff writer for the El Dorado News-Times. She can be reached at jhershberger@eldoradonews.com.