Door bell
It was the Friday before Father's day and my bedroom was warm, so I had left my window and blinds slightly open. The next morning, I heard a squeaking rattling sort of noise. It was early and I wasn't awake enough to know what the sound was, so I listened some more. It wasn't birds or squirrels. Was it a neighbour? What time is it? Not even six. I look out the window, no sign of anyone doing anything. The noise persists and it seems close. I go downstairs and look around. There's nothing in the dining room or living room and that's when I notice something grey between my front door and the screen door.
I'm still half asleep, so I didn't really think much about what the grey thing was. It didn't seem to be moving and I thought it looked kind of like cardboard. In my still sleepy confused state, I thought someone had parked a package there. In what is clearly not my smartest move ever, I open the door.
It's not a package, it's a girl. She's brunette, a head shorter than me, slim, and young - perhaps 12. She's wearing a grey hoodie and leggings. I'm now fully awake and don't want someone I don't know coming into my house so I say "You're not coming in!" and slam the door shut. Through the door, I ask if she needs help. No answer. I tell her to go. I tell her I'm going to have to call the police. Still no response. At this point, I'm out of ideas. I don't really want to call the police on this girl, but I don't really have better ideas.
So I call and explain the situation as calmly as I can. I'm calling from the land line because it is right there and I left my cell upstairs. That wasn't a terrible idea except that the batteries in that phone aren't great and apparently weren't enough for the two minute call. So, 911 calls me back and I have to run upstairs to answer on the non-wireless phone. I'm told the police are on their way. Now I grab my cell phone and go back downstairs to keep an eye on her and wait.
It's a longer wait than I expected (at least 20 minutes). The girl continues to stand there not really doing anything except for occasionally trying the door lever which causes the squeak I heard and shifting her position in the entrance which causes the screen door to rattle. Eventually, I ask what her name is. "Inga" Her voice isn't very clear and seems a bit slurred so I'm not sure I know what she said.
"Where do you live?"
"I live here."
"No, I live here, I live alone."
"I live here."
"What's your address?"
"12mumble McMumble street"
"This is College Avenue. You don't live here."
"I live here. My room is on the second floor" she says and points to the upstairs corner of my house where my guest room is.
"Have you ever moved?"
"No."
"Who do you live with?"
"My mom."
She's clearly confused and so am I. I run out of questions and continue to wonder where the police are. At one point she leaves my front step and wanders between my house and my neighbour's. Is she going to go into my back yard? Is she going somewhere else entirely? No. She returns back to my front door seconds later and continues to try to get in.
Eventually the police arrive. Two female officers get out of the cruiser and ask her to get off my steps. I'm not sure what the girl says, but I hear one officer say, "This is not your house. This is an old lady's house. You're scaring the old lady." I'm a bit offended, but whatever. They ask her to put her hands behind her back and put hand cuffs on which seems unnecessary. The girl is now in the back of the car and the officer comes back to talk to me a bit.
"She seems to be confused." (I've noticed.)
I tell her what little I learned from talking to the girl and the officer says that they'll get her where she needs to be.
I'm too awake to go back to sleep, but I go back to my room and listen to a podcast for a bit and then notice an ambulance stop up across the street. There are also a couple of police cars down the block by the school. They signal the ambulance and then bring someone out from behind the school. Now I think I know where my visitor came from. Someone was probably having a bit of a party behind the school and probably indulged in something extra.
I don't expect to ever know what happened to the girl, but I hope she found the help she needed and got home safely. I wonder what I could have done differently and I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't locked my front door the night before, but I mostly wonder what circumstances resulted in her being on my front steps. How did she get to the school? Who gave her whatever it is she took? Why did she choose my house instead of any of the other houses? I'll never know, but if I were to write a fictionalized version, she'd either be a time traveler confused by her trip from the future or be possessed by a spirit in an effort to send a message from beyond the grave.
