Midnight noises

Last night, I went to bed at around 9:30 pm. I was really tired and fell asleep almost instantly after I moved Snickers to the side of the bed and my head hit the pillow.

I was awakened a little after 1:00 am by a faint beeping sound. At first, I thought the beep sounded like the kitchen timer and thought, “whoever set the timer will turn it off.” I kept my eyes closed.

A few moments later, the faint beep reoccurred. “Hmm,” I thought. “Whoever set the timer is not moving very quickly.” Still, I had confidence that someone would turn off the timer they had set. I kept my eyes closed.

A few moments later, the faint beep reoccurred. “That can't be the timer,” I thought. “Because whoever set it would have been waiting for it to beep and turned it off by now.” Then I determined, “I must be imagining the beep.” I kept my eyes closed.

“Beep... beep... beep.................... Beep... beep... beep.................... Beep... beep... beep.................... "

I opened my eyes.

“Doggone! That can NOT be my imagination!” I thought as I threw back my covers and went to open my door. I looked at my clock. It read, “1:35.”

Snickers jumped off my bed and ran to the door, waiting to go out of the room. As soon as the door was opened, he bolted out of the room and ran down the stairs, “thum-thum-thum-thum-thum-thum-thump,” anticipating where I would be headed.

The beeping sounded again, this time louder. “Beep... beep... beep.................... “ Sure enough, it was the kitchen timer. So I headed downstairs, turning on lights as I went, to see why the timer was beeping.

The whole house was dark. Everyone was asleep. Maybe someone had forgotten to turn off the stove? There was no smell of smoke, though. Coming into the kitchen, I turned off the timer. Then I checked the oven. It was not on. I looked around the kitchen. Everything looked unplugged or off. So I turned around and headed back upstairs. Snickers did not follow me.

At the top of the stairs, beside my parents' bedroom, I whispered downstairs loudly, “Snickers.”

Snickers did not come.

I whispered down at him a little louder, “Snickers.”

Still no Snickers.

Fearing I would wake the house, I went back into my bedroom. At the threshold, I gave it one more try. Loudly, I whispered, “Snickers!” I got no response. So I left my door open and I went to bed. I closed my eyes and was just beginning to relax when I heard, “thum-thum-thum-thum-thum-thum-thump.”

“Bounce, bounce,” went my bed as Snickers jumped up on it. I wondered, “Should I get up and close my door?” Then I thought, “No. I don't want to get up again and Snickers will stay here to sleep now. I will just leave the door open.” I started to relax again.

Snickers jumped off the bed, "bounce, bounce" and ran out the door. “Thum-thum-thum-thum-thum-thum-thump,” I heard as he ran down the stairs. I felt frustrated. But what could I do? Nothing. So I breathed in and closed my eyes again to go to sleep.

“Thum-thum-thum-thum-thum-thum-thump,” I heard. Snickers was coming back upstairs!

"Bounce, bounce," went my bed. But this time, I was not going to make the mistake of leaving my door open! My eyelids flitted open and I started to slip out of my bed when, “bounce, bounce” Snickers jumped off the bed and, “thum-thum-thum-thum-thum-thum-thump,” he ran down the stairs!

It was at this point that I gave up. I went back to bed and went to sleep. This morning, I asked why the timer had been set. It was an accident. Mom did not realize she had set the timer. But she did wake up when she heard me calling to Snickers in the middle of the night.