Be 9. I woke up to the crash of breaking glass from the direction of the kitchen. Heart racing, listening as hard as I could for someone breaking in. I hear men’s dress shoe footsteps, slow and methodical. They’re coming closer to the hallway to the bedrooms. The hallway light turns on. Someone jiggles my parents’ locked bedroom doorknob. The light turns off, the steps walk slowly back towards the kitchen. Silence.

I woke up the next morning to find out the cat knocked my toy off the kitchen table and the pieces scattered all over the floor. No sign of entry; apparently my mind fabricated the lights and sounds that I knew were real.