“I'm going to Hallmark to find a birthday present for your granny,” m my dad informed me, “lock the door and look through the peephole if anyone knocks.”
     “Okay,” I replied as I stretched my body across the small, hard bed on the second floor of the Amerihost Inn in Murray, Kentucky.  My entire family, including aunts, uncles, and cousins, had ventured to Murray to celebrate Thanksgiving and my granny's birthday with my granny and Papaw.
     As soon as my brown-haired, average-size dad strolled out of our hotel room, I jumped up off the bed, ran to the door and locked both the chain-lock and the deadbolt.  My mom and brother were at a friend’s house and I was left alone.
     I tensely walked back to the bed feeling uptight about being left in solitude.  I relaxed as I thought about the wonderful, free feeling of Thanksgiving break, popped open a can of Pringles and chow down.  As I lay down on the bed and watched “Rugrats”, I wondered when my dad would be back.
     I walked to the window and stared out for about fifteen minutes, before seeing my dad enter the parking lot in his bright red, Ford truck.  I sat back down and waited for his knock on the door.  As soon as his first knuckle hit the wood, I was up, on the tips of my toes, peering through the small, round peephole.  I saw my dad, eagerly opened the chain-lock, and tried to open the deadbolt.  It was stuck!  I tried once more.  No luck! I felt hot all over as an uneasy sensation overcame my body.
     “Dad,” I said with panic in my voice, “the lock, it’s stuck!”
     “It’s okay,” he replied hearing the fear in my voice, “call the front desk.”
     With my hands shaking and my mind spinning like a hurricane, I inched toward the phone as if it would jump at me.  I picked it up, touched zero and listened to the suspenseful ring.
     “Hello, Amerihost Inn.  How may I help you?” a polite, young voice questioned after about 3 rings.
     “Umm,” I started nervously, “I'm locked in room 213.  The deadbolt is stuck.”
     “Did you try turning it both ways?” she asked.
     “Yes,” I answered, annoyed that a stranger could assume that I was that brainless.
     “Well, I’ll have to call my boss. Ill call you back when I've found out what to do,’ she said, sounding a little shaken up herself.
     I paced back to eh door to tell my dad the news.  I acted like I was fine but on the inside; it was the complete opposite.  Ill never get out.  They'll have to send someone to knock the door down.
     “It’s okay Erin, you're going to be fine,” my dad said repeatedly.
     Following a moment’s silence, I looked out the peephole and witnessed my dad leaning against the wall with a “Why is she making this such a big deal” look on his face.  He obviously thought this matter would be resolved much quicker than I thought it would be.
 After a few minutes of my dad trying to bring me to the same level of calmness as him (which is the “nothing happened level”), I was tired of being stuck in the room.  I turned the door handle as hard I could and the door opened!
     Free at last, Free at last! A nervous smile of embarrassment stretched across my face as my dad said, “I gotcha a sucker,” and offered a red-hot fireball sucker to me. “Had ya think I was gonna do? Leave ya here?” he asked as I began to laugh lightly at my panicking.
     I called back the front desk and informed the woman I had unlocked the door.
     “Dad,” I said as I hung up the phone, “please don't tell Mom and Charlie about this.”
     I felt really stupid about being so freaked out over that tiny incident, but I really needed my dad’s help on this one. If Charlie, my older brother, found out I would never hear the end of it.
     “Okay,” my dad answered lovingly.

Bronchitis Example 1

The First Ride Example 3

My Next Door Neighbor Example 4

The Motorcycle Crash Example 5

Tigers on the Prowl Example 6

Personal Narrative Home Page