The Noise Upstairs

It was the first time Bracey’s parents had left her home alone for the night. She had assured them she was old enough to stay by herself, so they had finally agreed. Of course, before her parents had left for their date night, they had made sure Bracey had her phone charged and knew the numbers to call if she needed help. They also checked all the locks. Bracey had nodded and smiled through all of their instructions, determined she would not need to call them.

As darkness fell, Bracey admitted she wasn’t as confident as she had been when her parents first left. She got up and made sure all the doors and windows were locked. She decided she would turn on the television so the house wasn’t too quiet, but as she walked over to pick up the remote, she heard something. A noise upstairs stopped her in her tracks. She had never heard anything like it before. She didn’t know what to do. Should she investigate the sound? Should she call for help? Should she go upstairs?

Bracey decided to sit beside the front door and wait. The noise continued. There was a scratch, scratch, scratch, creak sound that came every few minutes. Bracey stared up the steps, wondering what could be up there and hoping whatever it was didn’t come down the stairs.

Finally, she heard the sound of her parents’ car pulling into the driveway, their car lights flooding the windows of the house. Bracey jumped up and opened the door, trying to appear calm, even though her heart was racing.

“Did everything go okay?” her father asked. But before she could answer, he continued, “I wondered if that scraping noise would drive you crazy. I meant to warn you there was a branch that was scraping against the window upstairs. It’s kept me awake the past two nights. I’m going to have to cut it down tomorrow. Did you notice it at all?”

Bracey couldn’t believe the noise she had heard had been a branch brushing against an upstairs window, but she was so relieved that was all it had been.

She smiled as she answered her dad, “Just barely!”