Tap, Tap, Tap.  Was all I heard, ever so softy at first. It’s only a dream. I’ll just open my eyes to my familiar bedroom surroundings, then close them and go back to sleep.  I’ve had bad dreams before. Sometimes I remember them. Sometimes I don’t. Lately, though, when the bad dreams come it seems all I have to do is tell myself to open my eyes and they go away – never to return. This time will be no different.
 
I open my eyes and blink a couple of times.  It feels like I am awake but I’m never sure until I check my surroundings. First I must locate the bedroom door. I sleep on my back so that process is not difficult. It just requires a turn of the head to my left.
         
Just like all the other times before, subdued darkness engulfs me. Our bedroom is never in complete darkness because the hallway night-light gives a glow of light to the room.  A little light always creeps in, especially since my wife insists we keep the bedroom door open. That subtle lighting makes it easier for me to orient my mind to the surroundings as I wake from one of those dreams.
 
Once I find the bedroom door, my eyes adjust and my mind starts analyzing the surroundings. First, it locates the bathroom door across the hallway. Searching, I see my wife’s dresser and the window. Once I locate the window my mind nudges me awake enough to recognize that I am in my own home and no longer in the land of make believe.
 
 But something’s different this time. Those noises that woke me haven’t stopped. What was I hearing and where are they coming from? I turn to look at my wife. Is she breathing? I can see her chest moving. I take comfort in that.
           
I don’t want to wake her. No sense alarming her now. I roll onto my back and take a deep breath and hold it. I need to be sure it wasn’t my own breathing I heard.
 
Tap, Tap, Tap.  
“What is that noise?” I whisper. ‘It doesn’t sound like someone trying to break in. I’ll lie here a little longer and try to figure out where it’s coming from.
Sounds like a dog.
It can’t be. Sandy died last year.
But yet, I know I heard a dog bark.’
 
My brain always functions at a diminished capacity when awakened unexpectedly in the middle of the night. I take in another breath and hold it. I have to be absolutely sure I am hearing those noises and not dreaming them.
 
 TAP! TAP! TAP!   
 
 “OK! That’s real! I am not dreaming!”  I whisper. ‘I really do have to check it out now.’
 
As quietly as I can, I slide out from between the bed sheets and place first one foot then the other on the floor. I sit on the edge of the bed for a while to insure my brain can function well enough to handle foot movement.
            
Now where’d that noise come from? I’ll check the family room. If it is someone trying to break in, it won’t be from the front of the house… Too much light. 
           
It is during times like this when I appreciate our ranch style house. Not a whole lot of corners to negotiate in the middle of the night when I’m not fully mental. I’ll walk down the hallway to the kitchen, turn right, and walk about ten steps to the family room. I can do that in my sleep. No problem.
           
Walking down the hallway, I hear a different noise. It sounds like someone scratching on a window. It’s coming from the family room I think. I must be still dreaming. That scratching sounds just like something I’d hear in a scary movie. 
           
As I enter the family room, I can feel my heart beating faster. If this is a dream, I’m in, it’s about to turn creepier. What am I gonna’ see when I look out that window? Will I be staring back at the face of some predator peeking in the window to see if anyone is home?  Perhaps it’s that Jason character? 
 
 I wish my mind wouldn’t do that!  Especially on missions like this.
 Now is the time to really gather up all the courage I can muster…………..

What does Ed see when he looks out that window? Check back tomorrow to find out: