Short Stories

Just One of Those Days

by Roni Stanton
12/30/14
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You know the days… that can be “just one of those days?”  Boy! Do I have a hum dinger for you?

I was upstairs in my bedroom; I heard a dog barking downstairs, I live alone and I don’t have a dog, but is clearly sounded like it was coming from the front door.  So I drug myself out of my comfy bed, my head in a fog from almost being asleep.  Now I have to deal with why is a dog barking in my house. 

As I started down the stairs I tripped over the shoes I had left on the stairs for morning, fell down a few steps and caught myself, actually more like wedged in an undignified position, but we don’t need to get into that.  I got up, with sore hips and knee now and finished going to the stairs.  Through all this the dog continued to bark.  As I headed to the front door I slid on something wet on the floor and fell smack on my bottom.  As I was trying to get up I noticed I caught a mouse in the glue trap I had set down last night, so since I was already on the floor I grabbed the trap, as I was trying to stand the mouse on the trap bit my finger and it surprised me, down I fell again. Landing solidly in the wet spot and the flinging trap caught in my hair.  REALLY, I cannot believe this … and still the dog was barking.  So again I get up,  sore hip, knees and now wet bottom with a glue trap stuck in my hair, a mouse squeaking in my ear and the dog still barking.  I walk to the front door and find out my door is wide open… Did I forget to shut and lock it?  The dog was barking on my porch some small Chihuahua thing… Yap yap yap…. 

I look up from the dog, and out on my front lawn there are cops with some suspect lying on the ground, cops cars with all the lights blazing at the street.  As I stand there one of the officers approaches the house, he has a strange look on his face as he looks at me.  I realize, I am standing slightly hunched, glue trap in my hair, with my pajama shirt only, damp bottom to the shirt and no shoes.  Oh! It’s one of those days.    And the dog keeps yapping.

The officer comes up and kindly states, “a neighbor called the cops saw your door open and a dog barking.  When we arrived we found this guy exiting your house once he saw us he took off running, figured we had a problem.  Do you know this guy?”  (By then the officers had the man standing).  I stated, “I do not know him.”
 Officer stated “he believed the man had broken into the house.  Did he hurt you or accost you.”

“No officer, this was all me and it’s too complicated to explain.  It’s one of those days.”  In the conversation with the officer, I realized the dog may have saved my life.  All his barking at the Angel at my door alerted neighbors to the man in my house.

The officer interrupted my thought and asked “if I could come to station in the morning to make a statement and left me his card.”  The barking had stopped and the dog nowhere in sight when I turned to go back in the house.

Once back inside the door, I switched on the lights… the dog had peed on the floor… but can’t be too angry, he got the police here… now to get the mouse trap out of my hair, clean the floor, take a shower and head back to bed.  Maybe tomorrow will be a different day.  Blessed by the angel guarding at my Door.