A Very Not Lovely Thing happened

 
You may have noticed there was no new blog yesterday.

That is because a Very Not Lovely Thing happened to me and Tiger.

It happened while Tiger was having her nap. It was a windy day in Ditch Town and so, when I heard a bang coming from the back of the Candy Pink house, I thought something had blown over on the back porch, or that Mephy Danger Gordon had knocked something sideways during one of his jumpy adventures.

I wasn't scared. Until I heard footsteps coming up the hallway.

Yep. Somebody was in our house. And, having only just emailed Husband Bear and not having heard the car in the driveway, I knew it wasn't him.

And then I heard the not-Husband-Bear banging around in the lounge room. And I knew: This person was not a Nice person. This person was a Home-Invading, Robber-type person.

So, of course, I freaked. Inwardly and quietly, obviously, so as not to alert the Not Nice Person to my presence. And then I very quietly called HB. Who freaked. And called the police. And, somewhere in amongst this freaking-and-calling, Tiger woke up and started making her traditional Squeals Of Waking Happiness.

Which, obviously, the Not Nice Person heard (she is LOOOUUUDDD). 

And, thankfully, he freaked. And scarpered.

Long story short, the police then arrived, we discovered the NNP had emptied my wallet of cash and taken my house keys but nothing else. 

The police didn't find the NNP. They suspect "he" (I assume this, though, of course, I'm being horribly sexist here), was just a kid, after money or small items he could quickly pilfer, who took advantage of our seemingly-empty house and my (stupidly and unusually) back door. When he heard there actually were people in the house he freaked out at the thought of being caught and bolted.

Luckily.

Because you have no idea the thoughts that were running through my head as I sat, terrified, in that room.

The poem I wrote afterwards (while still in shock, so please cut me some slack), might give you some idea:

In that moment,
As we huddled,
Curled against the darkness,
All within me
Was yours.
My own blood belonged to you.
My own limbs existed only
To run with you to safety.
In that moment,
A thousand voices cried
Your name,
So loudly I thought
They would hear
They would come
They would know.
I was certain their ears would prick,
Hear my heart
Beating in time
To your dream-quickened breath.
In that moment,
I thought, "be silent, for her.
Be still, for her.
Don't let them come."
In that moment I was
An eagle with you,
Nested beneath my wing,
A tiger with you,
Tucked beneath my paw.
I would have pounced,
Would have clawed,
Would have rended flesh from bone,
To make you safe.
In that moment,
I didn't think
Of what would be done to me,
Only,
That you kept breathing, 
Kept dreaming,
Kept being.
"Hush little angel," I whispered.
"Don't say a word."

The thought of Tiger being hurt is the worst thing I can possibly imagine. We were very lucky yesterday. So, perhaps, I should say that the Thing that happened was Very Lovely Indeed.

~ Love, Miss Cackle x