Mr. Curls To the Rescue

My parents were on a trip this past week and I stopped by the house a few times to check for burglars. This was extra important because a few weeks ago, their next door neighbors had their house broken into.

I went to visit mom and dad's a few days ago. I picked up some Chinese food and a DVD to watch on their big screen TV. Part way through the DVD, Mr. Curls called to shoot the breeze and I started to walk down the stairs into the basement for something. Half way down the stairs, I heard a sound like one of the storage boxes falling over.

"Um, hang on a second," I said as I back-pedaled up the stairs. I walked outside, locked the door, then told Mr. Curls about the noise. "Could be, it was nothing," I said. "Could be, it's just a squirrel or something. But, what with the neighbors, and all..."

"You want me to come over? I'm already on that side of town."

I hesitated. The last thing I wanted was to be a wimp, but, worst case scenario, it'd be worse to be stupid than to over-react. "Could you?"

"I'll be right there."

I waited in my car with the engine running, just in case a murderous burglar came at me. Soon enough, Mr. Curls pulled up. All business, he walked around the house with me, helping me check for any places someone might have broken in - I wanted to do a walk around first, because if we found an obvious place where a window was busted, then I'd call the police right then and there. When we didn't see any spots where someone might have broken in, we ventured inside. Together, we went through the house room by room, checking for intruders.

Thankfully, it turned out to be a false alarm. Whatever I heard, it was most likely a weird echo of my own footsteps. I felt kind of silly about being worried, but relieved at the same time. I felt a little bad for asking Mr. Curls to drop what he was doing and come over just because I was paranoid, but for his part, he just shrugged. "I'm glad it was nothing. I'd much rather it be nothing than think that you were in danger." That was it. No mention of how he'd left his sister's mid-conversation. No mention of how I'd worried him for nothing, and no giving me a hard time about an over-active imagination. Just relief that it was okay.

Even though it turned out to be nothing, he was there for me, without hesitation, when I needed him. It's the sort of thing that balances out all the baggage and complications. Whatever else, I know he's got my back. It's a good feeling.