Much Ado!

 “oh nooooooooooooooooo………………!”

Tara awoke with a jolt, hearing the loud noise of glass crashing, shattering and her mom’s scream. Her afternoon nap was interrupted. She jumped out of the bed and ran towards the stairs to check where the sounds came from.

“Tara, stay in your room! DO NOT come down. It’s not safe here! Go back to your room, RIGHT NOW!” her mom shouted from the foyer downstairs.

As an obedient eight year old, Tara ran back into her room and closed the door.  But she was absolutely shaken up. Her heart was pounding and she was panting. Her mind was racing to figure out what was going on. “What just happened? Something crashed and mom said that it wasn’t safe. Why did I run back without looking down? I should have taken a good look before dashing back to the room!”

“Is mom in trouble? Is there an intruder in the house? Oh my Gosh! That’s why mom told me not to go down…and maybe that’s why she told me to go back to my room. What do I do now? Will they come upstairs to get me? When mom told me not to come down, they must know that I am in my room. Should I lock the door and move my table? Oh, that table is too heavy.”

She heard rushed footsteps and the sound of a door being slammed hard.

“Is there one person or more? Are the intruders holding mom a hostage? Are they angry? What do they want? Is that why they are slamming the door?”

“Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..….chhhhh!” It was her mom’s voice again.

“Oh, no! Mommy sounds like she is in pain. Is she sobbing? Should I go down to save her? But she told me that it is not safe down there. Maybe, I should text daddy. Oh, but the iPad is on the couch downstairs. Why did I not bring my iPad upstairs with me?”

Right then, she heard the drawers being opened and closed in quick succession. Her beagle - Rambo, began to bark agitatedly.

“Oh, no! What’s going on? What are they searching for in the drawers? Hope Rambo doesn’t make them mad. Stop barking Rambo! Please don’t hurt Rambo. Please, Please!” Tara started to shiver and sweat. Her heart was racing.

She heard metal being dragged and glass shattering again. But she did not hear her mom’s voice at all.  

“Is mom fighting with the intruder? But she is not talking anymore. What happened to her? Why is she quiet? Is she unconscious? Mom, please say something. Say anything!”

The glass shattering and metal hitting something continued for a few minutes. Tara locked her door, ran and hid herself in her closet.

“I need to come up with a plan. Hiding here will not help. Mom is in trouble. I need to be brave and go to rescue her."

Finally, the noises stopped. She slowly stepped out of the closet, opened her door very slowly and peeped down the stairs to see if someone was at the foyer. She didn’t see anyone.

She tippy-toed to the stairs and slowly called out, “Mom”.

No response.

Tears started rolling down her eyes.

She swallowed hard and called out again a little louder, “Mom”.

Still nothing!

She slowly walked down a couple of stairs when she heard a door open and close. She thought that she was going to be caught by the intruders also.

“Should I hide or should I look for mom? How I wish I didn’t take a nap today! How I wish Sam didn’t have the soccer game today and how I wish Dad was home. How I wish I didn’t tell mom that I hated her when she didn’t send me to that play date! Maybe this is the punishment was being rude to mom. But why is mom being punished. I should be the one to be punished.”

She couldn’t just be there and wait for the worst to happen. She mustered all her courage and called out softly one more time, “Mommy!”

“It’s okay for you to come on down now, sweetie!” she heard her mom say.

She dashed down the stairs and saw her mom walking to the living room. She rushed to her mom and hugged her tight as she sobbed. Rambo barked excitedly from his pet pen to show that he was happy to see Tara.

Her mom looked at her quizzically and said, “What happened, Tara? Did you have a nightmare? Why are you crying?”

Instead of answering her mom’s questions, Tara shouted, “Why did you tell me that it was not safe to come down?”

“Are you upset because of that? What a nightmare, it’s been! The chandelier in the foyer fell down and broke into a million pieces. I had to clean it all up before anyone walked through the space. You awoke by the sound of the fall and there were glass pieces everywhere. I stepped on a piece of glass and my foot started to bleed – which is why I told you that it is not safe for you to come down. I found the first aid kit only after rummaging through all the drawers. Your dad always places it in the wrong one. Getting the cleaning supplies from the garage and dragging all the heavy metal parts of the chandelier to the garage was not easy at all! I ended up making several trips back and forth. Sweeping up all the glass pieces and mopping this whole area has drained all the energy out of me. But am glad that it’s all clean now! Phew! I am going to make some lemonade for myself. Do you want some? ”

Tara now understood the secrets behind all the noises but decided to save the story for when her dad and Sam got back home. She wiped her tears, smiled and said, “Sure, Mom. I love you!”

“Did you not say you hated me because I said no to a play date?” mom smiled and winked.