Screeches, Squeaks & Thumps in the Night

Screeech. Screeech. Emily’s eyes flew open. What was that noise? She sat straight up in bed and jerked her head toward the window. It was still dark outside. She hated to wake her parents. Sometimes they were cranky when she got them up in the middle of the night. Maybe she’d only imagined the noise. Emily lay back down and tried to relax.

Then—screeeeeech! Screeeeech! “That wasn’t my imagination!” Emily said to herself. She jumped out of bed and crept quietly to Jeremy’s room. Emily opened the door and peeped inside.

“Jeremy,” she whispered. When Jeremy didn’t answer, she tiptoed across the room to the side of his bed and shook him gently. “Are you awake?”

He groaned and pulled the cover over his head. “I am now!” he said, his voice muffled by the blanket.

“I heard a noise,” said Emily.

He threw the covers off to listen.

Screeech. Screeech. “See? There it is again.”

Jeremy sighed. “Are you kidding, Emily? That’s just a tree branch on the side of the house.”

“Are—are you sure?”

“Yeah. Now go back to bed.”

Then they heard a new sound—squeaea- eak—clack—squea-ea-eak—clack. Jeremy sat up. “That wasn’t a tree branch,” he said.

“Wh-wh-what do you think it is?” Emily swallowed hard.

Jeremy bolted out of bed and went to his window. “Uh—I—I’m sure it’s nothing, Emily.” She joined him at the window, and they both peered out cautiously.

Emily strained her eyes. “I can’t see anything. Can you?”

Thump! They both jumped. Emily grabbed her brother’s arm as she listened. Thump—came the sound again followed by short bumps— thump, bump, bump. And then—squea-ea-eak— clack—squea-ea-eak—clack. Then the tree branch joined in again—SCREEEEEEECH, scratch, scratch—SCREEEEEEECH, scratch, scratch.

“Jeremy,” Emily’s voice quavered. “I think a monster might be trying to get in.” She clutched Jeremy’s arm even tighter.

“Naah!” Jeremy said bravely. “There’s no such thing as monsters.”

Suddenly, the bedroom light turned on, and both kids shrieked, “Whaaaa!” When they turned, they saw Mom and Dad standing in their robes, with their hair askew, and eyes squinting against the harsh light.

“What’s going on, kids?”

Emily ran straight to her dad. “I heard something,” she explained breathlessly, “so I came to get Jeremy and now there are all these noises outside!”

“Whoa! Slow down, Sweetie.” Mom yawned and flopped onto the bed.

“I tried to calm her down,” said Jeremy. “I—I’m sure there’s nothing to be scared of, right?”

“Of course not,” said Dad. “A storm’s blowing in, that’s all. It’s just the wind. You’re probably hearing that tree branch on the side of the house.”

Jeremy looked at his sister. “I told you, Emily. But what about those other sounds, Dad?”

They all listened again. Squea-ea-eak— clack—squea-ea-eak—clack.

“See? That! What’s that?” Jeremy asked.

“And that?” Emily squealed as they heard the THUMP, bump, bump again. Emily clutched onto her dad’s legs.

“Is that the wind, too?” asked Jeremy.

“Mm-hm,” said Mom, rubbing her eyes. “Wind’s amazing, isn’t? You can’t see it. But you can sure tell it’s there.”

“Actually, it kinda reminds me of God,” said Dad, prying Emily’s hands away from his legs.

Jeremy and Emily looked at each other. “Huh?”

“Well, can you see God?”

Both kids shook their heads.

“But we can see how he changes people,” Dad explained.

“Oh, yeah,” said Jeremy. “Like that mean kid on my soccer team who became a Christian— he’s not mean anymore. He’s really nice to me.”

“Right,” said Dad. “Now, let’s see if we can tell what’s going on with the wind out there.” Dad turned out the light and peered out the window. “Well, there’s your tree branch,” he said pointing to the edge of the window. Emily saw shadowy twigs moving in the wind. Scratch, scratch.

“Ah ha! I think you can solve another mystery by looking toward the street.” Dad pointed.

The kids jostled each other at the window, straining to see into the dark night. Emily barely made out the shape of their gate by the glow of a streetlight. The gate swung out and back—squea-ea-eak—clack—squea-ea-eak— clack—as if playing a little song.

“Looks like somebody forgot to lock the gate.” Jeremy nudged Emily with his elbow.

“Hey!” she protested.

“But what about the bumping sound?” Jeremy asked.

“Hmmm. Not sure about that,” said Dad.

“I think we can all go back to bed now,” suggested Mom, yawning.

Emily went back to her room and climbed under her blankets, still feeling a little nervous about the bumping noise. Finally, she dozed off to sleep.

The next morning, the wind was still blowing as Emily and Jeremy sat at the kitchen table eating cereal. Suddenly—THUMP, bump, bump! They heard the noise even louder than before.

Emily froze with her spoon halfway to her mouth. Jeremy rushed to the window. “Whaat!?” he exclaimed.

“What is it?” Emily dropped her spoon back into her bowl and ran to the window. There was Jeremy’s soccer ball bumping and thumping around the patio. Emily grinned and poked her brother in the ribs. “Looks like somebody forgot to put his soccer ball away.”

“Well,” said Jeremy, grinning sheepishly, “at least we know it was nothing to worry about.”

Emily laughed. “Yep,” she said. “The mystery is solved! It was just the wind.”

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