I've been watching...

I wish I had my old journal with me right now because I'd write this word for word. But I'll do this best from my memory, which isn't too hard because I feel like it happened yesterday.

This probably happened sometime in 2003 or 2004. It was during the school year, I was either in high school or had just dropped out, either way I was going to seminary (early morning church study) at the time. Seminary started at 6 in the morning. I usually arrived between 6:10-6:30.
For awhile when I would pull out of my driveway to go to seminary, I would see a truck parked right outside my house. I thought that was strange because we didn't have anyone visiting us...especially not that early in the morning. Quite a few times I saw the driver sitting in his truck and sometimes just staring at my house. I pulled away nervous. "Why is he there? and why is he looking at our house?"
The only explanation I could come up with was that he was scouting out our house to rob it or something. I told my dad that night at dinner and he said if I saw him again to get him up.
The next morning before I got ready for the day I looked out my window and saw him pull up to our house and park his truck on the street right outside the house. I see him pull something big and metal like from the back of his truck. "Oh my gosh, today is the day. He's breakin in." I thought to myself.
****
For some reason this year, while at home, I've had this awesome/annoying ability to stay up really late and sleep in really late. A couple of weeks ago I was up till 3:30 a.m. It was a Monday and before I went to sleep I decided to look out my window before nestling into my warm bed. I look out my window and see a car slowly pulling up to a house that's probably about 4 houses up from mine, across the street. I thought that was weird since it was so late....or early (however you would like to see it). Maybe they're just picking someone up, but at 3:30 in the morning? I thought that was kind of strange. So I continued to watch. I saw someone walk to the car and get in and the car slowly drives off. I was about to lay down but then I saw a guy walking down my side of the street. The car stops and it looked the car and the guy walking talked and then the car drove off. The guy looks like he's walking in between the houses. Weird.
I continue to look out my window and see someone else walking on the other side of the street. He was walking right next to the front door of each house. They didn't stop and peer into the houses but it seemed weird.
"We have creepers walking around our neighborhood at night!" I told my mom. I also told my dad and he said that maybe we should call the police. We ended up not doing anything and I was sick that night so I didn't stay up to see if they came back.
I actually forgot about it until the following Sunday. My mom and I had stayed up until 3:30 watching a movie that we had obviously started too late. I was planning on staying up later to read something for my brother when I heard a car driving up and down the street. It was loud, unlike the car I had seen last week. I looked out my window and this time I saw a guy walking up my side of the street. He passed my house and walked across the yard to my neighbors for their front door. I could swear the guy had a long gun in his left hand and a bunch of plants in his right arm. "Why the crap is he stealing people's plants?!"
I went to my parents room and woke them up. Something is going on in the neighborhood and I wasn't going to be the only one witnessing this. I tell my parents what I saw and my dad - who had been asleep for hours goes "Go let your mom take care of it."
Mom comes into my room and we stare out my window together. After awhile we see a guy walking down the other side of our street. He was walking right next to the front doors again. This guy didn't look like he was carrying anything. We both rule out the newspaper boy because it's way too early, something weird was definitely going on.
"Well what should we do? Call the police?" I ask but my mom said since nothing has actually happened they probably can't do anything. So we go back to our beds.
All of a sudden I hear my dad shout out "Let's go get them!" Obviously he woke up and wanted to help now. I shout out that they probably have left by now but he was already down the stairs. I come downstairs and he's putting on his coat and shoes. I wrap a blanket around myself because he tells me we're gonna take the car to go up and down the street. I'm laughing at the ridiculousness of this and he tells me to keep it down as he pushes the button for the garage door to open - oh sure, that's a lot quieter than me.
We pull out of the driveway and we see the footprints in the light snow that had been gathering. My dad gives me a piece of paper and pen to write down anything I saw - yes, we Hong's are real detectives.
And then we see it.
Lying on our driveway... a newspaper. We drive on, the yellow wrapped newspapers on the driveways and the orange wrapped newspapers on the porch. Apparently they do come that early. And when I thought that guy was holding a gun and plants, yeah that was all newspapers. Don't blame me, it was dark and they were far away.
****
"...today is the day. He's breakin in." I thought to myself. I continue to watch out my window and see him pull something else out of the back of his truck. His body shielded what it was for a bit and then he moved and I saw it was a bike and he was just pumping his bike tires. Yes, he was the newspaper guy....I guess our house was enough of the middle spot for him to park and deliver newspapers at.

Yes, I feel like the girl that cried newspaper boy....