“The Man in the Window”

One cold winter night, sixteen year old Ashley Sanders was home alone, as her parents had gone out to a dinner party at a friend's house. It had been snowing all afternoon, but had just recently stopped. After studying for a while, she decided to relax a little- after all, she finally had the house to herself. She made some popcorn, got a nice warm, fuzzy blanket, and snuggled under it to watch one of her favorite movies. In their lounge room, the television was positioned a few feet in front of the glass sliding door that lead to the patio and backyard. By midnight, Ashley's parents were still not home, and she began to feel uneasy, but refused to call them, for risk of sounding like she couldn't take care of herself. Suddenly, her eye caught a glint of light from behind the TV, and right there, just outside the glass door, was a crazy-eyed man, grinning maliciously at her, and holding a long, narrow blade in his left hand. Terrified, Ashley panicked, pulled the blanket up over her head and grabbed the cordless phone by her side. Ashley called the police, and as lucky as she was, there was a patrol car less than a block from her house. In a matter of seconds, two officers were on the scene and Ashley told them about the armed man staring through the glass. The first officer opened the sliding door and looked around the area. After a few moments, she turned and explained to Ashley that there couldn't have been anyone standing out there, as there would have been footprints in the snow. The second officer told her that she was probably just tired and her imagination was playing tricks on her. He pointed at the TV where the horror movie she had been watching was still playing. "Stuff like that didn't help matters, either'' he said smiling. Ashley smiled too, more at her own immaturity than the officer's remark, still a little shaken. As the police were about to leave, the male officer stopped and looked behind the sofa that Ashley had been sitting on. His jaw dropped and eyes widened in shock. Ashley and the other officer noticed his reaction and followed his gaze; they both gasped. There were wet footprints and a discarded knife on the carpet behind the couch. Ashley hadn't seen the man outside the window; she'd seen his reflection in the window when he was standing behind her.
As the Police men searched the whole house for the man, there was nothing to be found. No more footprints, no fingerprints, no evidence to