The morning after Halloween was much scarier for my family than the previous night. We awoke to blood curtailing screams and desperate knocking on the door of the house opposite us. “A man broke into my house” he screamed “He’s attacking me! Someone please help me!” The man was being chased by a man with a screwdriver and brutally attacked, both of them kept screaming until the police came and took the man away. The attacker was on drugs and most likely had some kind of mental illness as he claims it was the “blue-light” that told him to do it. This criminal was also my neighbor. He was sent to jail but my mother was still paranoid, going so far as to install an alarm system and a camera to see who is at our door at all times.

At first I thought this was excessive, the guy was already put away and I hated having to type in a code every time I entered the door. After some time however I honestly feel a lot safer. If someone were to break into our house the alarm would instantly inform the police and the camera would take pictures so we would know who did it if we needed evidence in court or something along those lines. Basically what I’m saying is, better safe than sorry. I’m not saying you should have to be cautious before you do everything but I am saying however that the belief that it can’t or won’t happen to you because of where you live is false. It happened right across the street from me, and I thought the exact same thing.

So be careful this holiday season. I don’t wanna hear about anyone getting hurt or losing their possessions. Be cautious and aware because these things do happen. They happen all the time, everywhere, but if you are prepared you won’t have to worry about it.