My friend called me last night and told me she wanted to crash at my house, but sadly, I’m not at mine. I haven’t been home for almost two weeks now, so that wasn’t possible. When I asked her why she suddenly wanted to leave her house, she told me she had been burgled.
I immediately felt sorry for her. Being burgled is such a frightening experience, but I think the most terrifying part is when the burglars don’t take anything significant from the house. It leaves you wondering what exactly they came for.
Her story reminded me of the one time I experienced burglars myself. It was around midnight, and I was living with my elder sister at the time. I had gotten up to use the bathroom, turned on the lights, did what I needed to do, turned them off and went back to bed. I’m not someone who falls asleep immediately after waking up, so I just lay there, staring at the ceiling and analysing life. My sister, on the other hand, was completely knocked out. She’s a very deep sleeper.
A few minutes later, I heard footsteps in the yard. They stopped, then continued. There were gravel stones scattered on the ground right next to our bedroom window, so I could hear them crunching every time someone stepped on them so I sat up in bed. For a moment, I considered going to the window to see what was happening, but I was too frightened to even get out of bed. Then I heard the deadbolt on the window creak. I looked in that direction and saw something that looked like a metal rod with a curved tip being pushed through the window. It was a wooden window and whoever was outside was using it to maneuver around the bolt, trying to unlock it.
That was when I tapped my sister and whispered, “Someone is trying to break into the house.” She immediately woke up. Terrified, she grabbed my hands, and we started praying.
At that point, we weren’t even thinking about our belongings. We didn’t care if they took our phones, money, clothes or anything else. We were two young women alone in the building, apart from our landlady and her autistic son, and the one thing we were absolutely terrified of was being raped.
After praying, my sister and I quietly got out of bed and moved towards the door. She put me behind her and grabbed a spatula. To this day, I still wonder what exactly she thought she was going to accomplish with that spatula. But fear will make you pick up anything.
The creaking stopped for a while. Then, BOOM! They kicked the window open and two masked men jumped into the room. They were armed.
One immediately pointed a gun at us while the other began searching the apartment. My sister started crying and pleading with them to take whatever they wanted and spare our lives. As she spoke, she was quietly struggling with the door lock.
Eventually, she managed to unlock it. I tumbled out first, literally rolling down the steps. My sister jumped over me and ran towards the backyard where our landlady lived. Before I could even get back on my feet, one of the men grabbed me. He snatched the button phone I carried in my hand, pushed me, and I scrambled away.
We screamed but nobody came. Not even a single person came out to check what was happening. And if you’re wondering why we didn’t immediately call the police after escaping, there was another problem. We live in a country where sometimes the people you’re supposed to call for help can become another problem entirely.
At the time, we were terrified that if the police arrived and didn’t find the burglars, we could end up being questioned, blamed or extorted instead of actually being helped. So we didn’t even bother.
By the time we got back to the apartment after everything, we figured they hadn’t really taken anything. They only scattered the place but our stuff was intact. So what did they really want?
That experience gave me serious trauma, I couldn’t sleep in that house anymore. Every little sound at night made me sit up. Every footstep outside sounded suspicious and I kept imagining someone trying to open the window again.
Eventually, we moved out, even though our rent had not expired. We just wanted to feel safe again.
Since then, I have sincerely hoped that I would never have to experience anything like that again. Being burgled is a horrible experience, but having armed strangers break into your home while you’re inside is a completely different level of terrifying. You don’t just lose your sense of security that night. Sometimes, you lose the feeling that your own home is a safe place to sleep.
I genuinely wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone. Not even my worst enemy.
Posted Using INLEO
