I gasped

when I suddenly awoke from a deep sleep and saw a silhouette in the shadows in my little brothers’ living room. A stranger stood two yards from my feet, and I wondered if I was in imminent danger.

As I have been sleeping in a lot in unfamiliar places over the past months traveling, I was least expecting to have a dangerous encounter in the safety of my brothers Boulder home. After recounting past nights stuffing my purse at the bottom of my sleeping bag in dormitory hostel rooms, it’s ironic that this time, I decided that was an unnecessary precaution. Who knew this was the one time it actually mattered.

My heart began to beat at an uncontrollable speed as tried to regain my bearings at this midnight hour.

The sound of my reaction started the man, too. “Oh, I didn’t see you there, maam. I’m sorry, maam,” he said.

What? Sorry? Who is that? How the hell did he get in here, I thought. Those words stammered out of my mouth two moments later. “Some guy let me in,” he said. I, not knowing exactly where that back door really led to, noted the likely flaw in his story and also noted his fingers were inches from my computer bag and purse.

I desperately tried to record the details of his face, perhaps I would need to describe him one day soon. He could be a criminal. He could be a rapist. Okay, he could be one of my brother’s friends. Or, he could be a just some random drunk guy.

I could barely make out the contours of his face, but was thankful I left the bathroom light on, which let in just enough light.

He said he was looking for the party. He said it was meant be in that unit. He asked me if so and so was there. Whomever he wanted did not belong to this house. He began to apologize again and then assured me he was just looking for the party. I just wanted the creepy guy out.

His story was plausible. He did have an empty green beer bottle in his hand. It matched the big green stripes in his shirt. Okay, he’s a drunk dude just looking for the party.

I shoed him to out, so he obediently turned and stumbled out the door. RELIEF! Then I rushed over to my computer bag and purse. My purse was unzipped. Why was my purse unzipped? Did I leave it like that? Maybe. Hmm, well, luckily, nothing was missing, so I thought.

I quickly called my brother. I didn’t know it, but he was asleep upstairs in this room the whole time. He, knowing I can be a worry wort, reassured me it was probably nothing. This is Boulder, people go to parties, and when people get drunk, this kind of stuff happens, people walk into the wrong house. It was Saturday night!

I had a hard time sleeping after that. I wrote in my journal for hours, and then left the next morning a bit restless.

A few hours later, I received a text message from my brother. Two ipods were missing. Damn.