In the dead of night, the narrator is awakened by sounds outside and becomes paranoid after watching horror movies. Upon investigating strange noises, the narrator discovers it is only the family cat. A search of the house reveals nothing else, but jumping at a cardboard cutout. Later, the narrator sees a larger shadow downstairs and comes face to face with an actual burglar in the house.

1. Adam Poole
In the dead of the night, I awoke. All I could hear was the wind gusting, the tree leaves
rustling and the children’s swing-set slowly swinging and squeaking. I tried to go back to
sleep but I couldn’t. I went for a walk and went down the stairs. I heard a crash and a
bang, my heart started racing. I was getting paranoid because I have seen horror
movies before and this is how they start out. I walked down to see what it was and then
I saw a shadow. I turned and then I heard a meow. It was only the cat! I started shaking
a bit. I said to myself there’s nothing there, but I wanted to see if I was right. I went
around to make sure all the doors and windows were locked and I checked the
basement. There was nothing there. I locked the basement door as well, then I went
down the hall and turned the corner. BAM! - something right in front of me! I jumped
back and turned the light on. It was only the George Foreman cardboard cut-out that I
have in the lounge room.
Outside was a mess, there were leaves everywhere. I wasn’t outside, I was only looking
through the window. It looked cold. I heard something down stairs again so I went down
there again. I saw a shadow, but this time it was bigger. I turned and right there I was
standing face to face with a burglar!