The car lights faded, blending everything in with the dark, cloudless night. Elena pushed open her door and hesitated before walking up to her house. She had planned her perfect "sneak in" nearly an hour ago. Her plan was so perfect in fact that she was sure even if her parents were awake she could get to her room un-detected. She just needed to work up the courage to begin.
Slowly, she crept around the front of her house. All of the lights were out, but still she was cautious enough to duck around the windows. There was an old tree right outside of her window. So far her plan had gone right. The first part had been easy enough, maybe it was just the thought of it that seemed so hard. Now, the tree was the only thing standing in her way to make it back to her room. She had to jump to reach the lowest limb and grip the bark with her sneakers to hoist herself up into the tree.
The porch lights flashed on. There was a scuffling sound, and the click of a gun being cocked. Elena was already stuck in the tree. Great, now she wouldn't even get to apologize for sneaking out, she was just going to get mistaken for a robber and get shot. Elena sat very still. She could hear her heart beating wildly in her ears. Shadows appeared on the ground, rounding the corner. She was roughly 60 feet away. Should she go ahead and reveal herself in spite of being caught, or keep going and risk much more than being grounded? This thought jumped around in her mind until she finally decided against her covert operation. Her feet hit the ground with a slight thud. She held her hands up in the air, one on either side of her head. Wow, she looked like a criminal getting apprehended by the police.
"Dad, dad it's me it's Elena!"
There was no reply. Just footsteps.
"Dad, did you hear me? It's just me, it's Elena. "I snuck out. I'm sorry, I should've just come in the front door."
"I'm sorry," she whined, panicked.
Still nothing.
A figure came around the corner.
This was not her father.