A Knock at the Door

It was all in slow motion

I was sitting on the couch waiting for him to come home, it was 3:30 am

I heard an echo of a knock, and I had thought I locked him out

But it all played out in a motion too small and too motionless to detect

I first felt a sense of relief, that a symphony was playing, and that I had locked him out

Then I felt a sense of dread, as I felt my legs in mid air, trying to get up

I felt like nothing had any substance, certainly not my body, as I struggled to move

It was like hanging off of a cliff, and being suspended in thin air

When I felt the floor under my feet, I felt fear like I have never experienced before

The room was shifting under my feet and the walls were not as I remembered them

The photo's of him hanging on the walls, suddenly came to life, and I wondered if I, myself had died

The knock grew louder and as I drew closer, I was unable to reach the doorknob

My hand was shaking and the doorknob was just beyond my reach

I felt the slippery shiny feeling of brass embrace my hand, but I wasn't able to turn the knob

The knock grew louder, and it stunned me out of my numbness, as I fumbled to turn the doorknob clockwise

The creek of the door opening, sent shivers up my spine, and upon opening it, I saw five figures that shouldn't have been there at this early morning hour

As the porch light illuminated the figures, I saw the light beaming off something shiny, and it felt like something was punching me in the stomach

It was their badges that they wore so proudly

As the man spoke, he said, "Does Richard live here"?

I literally dropped to my knees, and I refused to let them in, because I knew this was the end of my life as I knew it