Taking precautions to protect house from unseen intruder
It was a typically cold January night on Limekiln Lake and I was preparing my eight-year old self to slip between the bed sheets.
The sheets were chilly and it took a long time for my body heat to warm them enough to make it comfortable for sleeping.
The trees surrounding our property were popping like gun shots from the dropping temperatures.
The house made eerie cracking sounds too which kicked my imagination into gear.
I became gripped in fear with the thought that it was not the cold, but rather a monster seeking shelter from the bitter wind, that was creating the ruckus.
I listened closely as he went from window to window in search of a way in.
I gave a hard stare out one window and imagined that something was peering back at me through the frost-covered glass. I was paralyzed with fear.Just as I was giving up hope of getting any sleep, my dog Mutt came to the rescue. She jumped up in bed with me, which startled me at first.
But the thought of her beside me and protecting me brought comfort, and ultimate slumber.
That next morning I bundled up in my winter gear and toured around the house looking for monster tracks.
Though I did not find any evidence of a predator, I suspected that the blowing wind could have erased the tracks overnight.
In my juvenile mind I created a plan to protect myself from the monster. I used a broom to knock down the hundreds of Icicles that were clinging to the eves of our house.
I carefully collected them in my red metal sledding saucer and tugged them to the snow banks under my two bedroom windows.
I carefully buried the spike like icicles point sides up outside the windows to stave off future visits by the cold intruder.
I was proud of myself at having figured out a way to keep the monster from my room.
But just to be on the safe side, I allowed Mutt to climb in bed with me again that night so she could be safe too.
Mitch Lee, Adirondack native & storyteller, lives at Big Moose Lake.ltmitch3rdny@aol.com
