Haley was a light sleeper

Often waking in the dead of night

Holding her breath in the darkness

Listening intensely for activity outside

Wondering if she really heard a noise

Or was it just a dream that had woken her

Although she lived alone

There had never been anything to worry about so far

Other than the wind rustling the trees

Or the cry of a wild animal

She kept listening for a few minutes

Then decided to go back to sleep

Suddenly a loud thud from downstairs startled her

She sat up in bed and froze

Fearing somebody was trying to break in

Opening the bedroom door quietly

Tiptoeing to the top of the stairs

She listed hard in the darkness

Another thud with a rattle of the back door bolt

Racing back into her bedroom and closing the door

She picked up the phone to call 911 in the dark

The landline was dead presumably it was cut

Her cellphone was downstairs in the kitchen

Another thud mixed with breaking timber sounds

Somebody had smashed down the back door

Her heart was racing as she imagined an intruder roaming downstairs

She put into action her well rehearsed drill

Setting the alarm clock to go off in two minutes

Grabbing the baseball bat from under the bed

Meanwhile the intruder was searching for valuables downstairs

He was confused when the alarm clock played loud music upstairs

He crept up the stairs and stood outside her bedroom door

Slowly opening it and scanning his flashlight into the darkness

He could make out a motionless figure under the covers of the bed

As he stepped inside he felt something brush against his leg

The trip wire toppled a bucket of cold water on him from above

As he froze in shock the bedroom light blinded him

Haley swung the bat firmly into his skull

He fell to the ground and lay there motionless

Haley standing over him ready to strike another blow

Her pillows and wig had fooled him into thinking she was in bed

After a few minutes she prodded him in the back with the bat

There was no response at all so she went downstairs and called 911

The police arrived quickly and examined the blood stained bat

Haley explained how she had struck the intruder after dowsing him in water

Two officers went upstairs with weapons drawn shouting warnings

They found no intruder but a trail of blood through the bedroom window

A search outside revealed nothing

After two hours the police gave up searching and left

Haley had the back door fixed and bought herself a shotgun

She rehearsed her intruder response plan every week

Keeping the multiple booby traps primed

Hoping that he would dare to break in again

Next time she would not be taking any prisoners

Haley was a light sleeper