Hostage

I arrived home in the late evening hoping to relax after a long day of work, ready to crack open the book I have been reading. No sooner had I gotten settled into my chair, a glass of soda and slice of cake nearby, when I was taken hostage by an uninvited intruder. My husband had just gone off to bed and I was just beginning to unwind, the droning sound of the television barely noticed in the background, when suddenly the intruder was there, demanding my immediate attention. I had heard throughout the day that the intruder was on the loose in the area but hadn't given it much thought, dismissing it as just another news story. Now here the intruder was ordering me into the hallway, where I was then joined by my husband who had been summoned from the other end of the house. We were told to remain there until further notice. We sat in the hall quietly, shoulder to shoulder, wondering what would happen next, the sense of danger looming. There was an angry commotion and then the house went black, the power cut, darkness sliced by flashes of light, indicating the intruder was still here. I wondered what possesions the intruder would steal away from us or worse yet if we would be harmed. My hand slipped into my husband's as we sat silently, listening. The minutes ticked away ever so slowly as we waited to see what would happen next. After an hour we were released and the intruder was gone. We surveyed the house in darkness, relieved to be unharmed. The storm had passed, the tornado siren ceased, and we could finally take our wind-weary selves to bed.