Making the call...

You learn in school and through various media outlets to call 9-1-1 in case of an emergency. But, when do you decide to call 9-1-1 if it isn't a true 'emergency'? That happened to us last night. It was 11PM and I was getting ready to head up to bed, my husband was in the office working -- so, there were several lights on still in our house. (we are usually in bed with lights out by 10:30PM).

Then it happened: the doorbell rang. Now, if you know who I am and where I live, you know that we live 'sort-of' in the country - no sidewalks, no numbers on the houses, fire numbers on the side of the road, dark, dark, DARK at night! So, to hear that ring of the doorbell at that time of the night made our hearts stop, to say the least!

Then, the doorbell rang again. My husband started searching for a 'weapon' and I turned on all the lights in the house. Then, the person started pounding (and I mean POUNDING) on our door! We (or at least I) were started to freak out! I whispered to my husband, "should I call 9-1-1?"

Then the doorbell rang and rang and rang and the pounding and pounding on the door started. The girl started peering in our front door window and yelled, "Help, there are people trying to beat me up. What's your address?"

Surprisingly, I kept my cool at this point and yelled back at her through the door, "Do you want me to call 9-1-1- for you?" She replied, "I'm on the phone with them, I just need to know your address."

This is the point where adrenaline kicks in and your instincts just lead the way. I yelled back, "No, I will NOT give you my address." (like she couldn't just go to the front of my driveway and read the fire sign?!) I quickly dialed 9-1-1 and told the dispatcher the above story.

The dispatcher said they had someone on another line that was lost and didn't know her location and was claiming that people were chasing her. The girl then proceeded to head west to our neighbor's house. We called them, woke them up and told them not to answer their door.

After about 45 minutes, the local county police came to our door and proceeded to tell us that 4 doors down from us there is a young man who is into buying and selling drugs and has been in and out of jail and is the suspect of many break-ins and a murder in another neighboring town! (WHAT?????)

The girl was in fact lost, got to the house 4 doors down somehow, needed to leave and started out on foot trying to find out where she was....she was not from 'these parts', so to say.

Nothing like a jolt like that before going to bed, huh? I told my husband now was the time to invest in a home security system -- or at least a security system sign to put on our front window!