Things that go bang in the night

Lately, I've been dealing with insomnia. After I'd finish the writing for the evening and be able to go to bed, I would not be able to sleep. Chalk it up to stress, I suppose. But last night was different. Last night, I was up late working on my proposal. I'd been working on it all week, in addition to brainstorming for a new subtitle, and I was finally getting it all wrapped up. When that was finished, I FINALLY went to bed, very sleepy and relieved I could finally get some sleep.

That's what I thought until I suddenly felt a big "BANG!" against the wall behind my bed. It was so strong, it shook the whole bed!

I jumped out of bed, suddenly alert and looking around. I kept telling myself that because I didn't feel that with my hand against the wall, I couldn't be too certain it was coming from the carport that was located next to my bedroom. But my body KNEW what it was. Years of complete deafness has attuned my body to be sure of these kinds of vibrations. I KNEW what I had felt. It was definetely, unmistakably a bang coming from the carport. It had definitely been against that part of the wall. There was no doubt.

I was alone with the children because my husband was working. (He works the night shift.) So it was up to me to make sure we were safe. And even though I was frightened, I knew I had to buck up because the children were relying on me to protect them.

I went to my window and, as inconspicuously as possible, peered out through the curtains. I didn't see anyone. I looked everywhere on one side. Nothing. Then I went to another side. Still nothing. I kept looking, just to be sure. For once, I was grateful we live on a busy street. My neighbor is in the process of moving and he had left some furniture and this big living room lamp out on the driveway, next to the carports. I used the light from the headlights reflected on the lamp to determine if there could be anyone over there and I saw the silhouettes of two human shadows.

I bit my lip and grabbed my phone. I texted my husband and told him he needs to check out the carport when he gets home. I knew he was due back in 25 minutes and I'd have to use that time to ensure our safety. I told him I had felt a bang on the wall. While I waited for his response, I checked on the kids. They were fine. Peacefully asleep. But then I noticed a light flashing on a speaker that picks up noises, which is part of the Baby Cryer we use for when the baby is crying for us. It activates a vibrating rod under the mattress. When the light is blinking, that means it's picking up noise. I looked at my infant son, peacefully asleep and not even moving. 'Oh, no,' I thought. What KIND of noise was it detecting?? Was the noise so loud it would wake up and frighten my children?

My husband texted back saying "OK" and I sent the following message: "Hurry. The sound sensor's going off and the baby's asleep." (Well, he wasn't asleep for long. Soon enough, he started moving around and fussing in his sleep.) He texted back that I should turn on all the lights. So I walked out of the room to turn on ALL the lights in the house. Well, except for my daughter's bedroom light... That thing is BRIGHT and would wake her up. Still, she has a bright nightlight on in there. I thought it was sufficient. After I turned on the lights, I let my dog out of the crate. He walked around the house before settling back onto his pillow that we keep in the crate. I noted he didn't bark but he did have his ears up as he lied there. I kept an eye on him while I waited for my husband to get home, to see if he started barking. I kept checking on the kids every 5 minutes and took inventory of what I had to fight with if someone broke in. There was nothing in the entrance room except a desk lamp; it would have to do if I needed to use it against an intruder.

Finally, I looked out the peephole on the door and saw my husband park his car in the driveway and go up to the carport. He spent a while in there before going back to his car to move it to his usual parking space. At this point, I didn't see ANYTHING out of the usual. When he came inside, he wanted to know why my neighbor had some of his stuff in our carport and that I needed to tell him he'll have to move it elsewhere after 8 p.m. I didn't ask if he'd noticed anything missing. I mean, how would HE know?? So I made it a point to see if my neighbor noticed anything different the next morning.

I'd always hated the fact that we didn't have a normal garage to close stuff in at that carport. My neighbor's son once stored his bike in there and the bike was later stolen. I've had stuff the old residents left behind in that carport end up being stolen, too. So I guess I'm not surprised that extra stuff in there had attracted some unwanted company. I had warned my neighbor his stuff might get stolen if he put it in there. Now I know that we shouldn't even HAVE that temptation out there. The children's safety is too important for that risk.

UPDATE: I found out who it was. It was my new neighbor's daughter and her friend. I was pretty steamed they were out there making a racket at almost 2 a.m.! GRR! Nevertheless, my decision still stands.