Once upon a time this was me. I was a preteen and somebody or something aggressively beat at the back door of our modest board home terrifying me and my sibling. We were often left alone when mama and daddy ventured out at night after a hard days work. There was 7 of us kids. I'm the eldest of 5 girls and 2 boys the younger 3.

I knew where daddy kept his gun, but never touch it before that faithful night something or someone tried to break in our home. I took his pistol from the drawer, removed its safety and sat in the middle of mama and daddy bed holding the gun. I sat there quietly wondering whether to take it from the holster or wait until the threat appear. My 6 sibling cowered hiding behind me. It seemed like forever, holding the gun hoping it/who wouldn't come through either door left or right of me.

While my sibling slept behind me I took the night watch waiting. Finally, the banging cease. We kids sat their in silence waiting, looking. After while we heard mama and daddy come in. Immediately I ran to put the gun back in the drawer. Mama and daddy entered the room me and my siblings sat there quietly. Upon seeing their faces we 7 jumped from the bed and started telling our experience. Daddy said it was probably a dog and we were just scared to stay home. It was dark outside so he waited until morning to check the bank door.

Morning came and daddy went to check the door. The door had clear scratches on it and the dirt yard had foot prints unlike a dog. The footprints resembled that of a hog hoof walking on fours. So he knew it wasn't a human, it was something seriously wrong and we weren't crazy scary kids.

The next night daddy and mama stayed home. Daddy sat on the porch to show us he wasn't fearful of anything and we kids was probably playing games to go wherever they go.

We kids sat in our rooms and mamma in the kitchen. Suddenly, daddy came charging, stumbling in the house, got his shot gun, ran back outside and started shooting.

Suddenly, we heard the scream of an animal in the night air. My sibling hid in the room with mamma, but not I. I was at the door trying to see what this creature looked like almost getting trampled over by daddy running back in house when the creature stood upon two foot.

"What was it?" "Did you kill it"? I excitedly asked.
"Move out the way" daddy said. After he calmed down, he told us he fell asleep and when he opened his eyes he saw a black hairy animal with head similar to a hog with a snout walking toward him.

At that mama said "that's what you get sitting on the porch at night falling asleep in a chair." They argued like that often and daddy really liked threatening her with his guns.

One particular night after that scary time mama and daddy took us with them. We were still shaken from the terrifying night earlier.
As usual, mama and daddy started to argued in the car a few yard from home and as usual daddy pulled his pistol and started threatening mama on the side of the road.

As they argued the gun went off and daddy almost shot himself in the leg. Startled, he looked at us and asked "who was playing with my gun?, Who took the safety off"? From that day forward he accused mama of tampering with his gun. She'd say "I didn't touch your gun, shoulda shoot leg off"

Quiet as a church mouse not one of us uttered a word. I did confessed later that I took his gun from the drawer, explaining I would've shoot whatever/whoever came through the two doors of the room we were in.

Not long after that in the late 60s or early 70s daddy took me in the woods where he often practice target shooting with cans and bottles on a tree stump and showed me how to handle and shoot his shotgun and rifle..

That was the the time in my life I knew when I'm scared I'm fearless in the face of danger if I got to a weapon in time to protect me and my family...