Gunman Hiding in My Basement Closet

One night during quarantine, I was upstairs in my room playing video games

with the volume turned way up. At some point, I thought I heard a sound

coming from downstairs. I muted the TV and listened. Nothing. I went back

to playing. About an hour later, I heard it again—this time louder.

I was sure of it now. My stomach dropped. To calm myself down,

I went downstairs toward the basement, where the noise seemed to be coming from.

The moment I opened the basement door, cold air rushed past me.

I went down and saw the window wide open. I knew I had locked every