Missali:
At 11pm last night, I was awoken from sleep when I heard footsteps at the window. There is a curfew at 7pm and at that late hour, it is expected that people are in their various houses. This is not the fist time robbers have attempted to break into my house but this was intense.

I quietly got up from the sitting room floor I was laying on and moved to the bedroom to join my grandmother and baby cousin on the bed.
Gradually, the footsteps heightened and from the room window I could see men standing. My heart sank and I suddenly, I had a hard time breathing. My grandma tried to calm me down and it seemed to worsen.

I wasn't wearing any cloths and I usually sleep and thought of getting something to put on. These robbers sometimes rape girls and it doesn't help to be naked in the first place. That would cause some noise so I decided to forego the thought.

They started to spread out. A number of them moved the front and some went far out to the background. The ones at our window kept talking in whispers. I really couldn't fathom what they were saying as my heart was racing faster than I could ever imagine and suddenly I heard these words 'pass me my gun.'

I think I died! Immediately I turned into a prayer warrior, mumbling incoherently in whatever tongues I could speak. I asked God to forgive my sins, I thought of hiding under the bed or inside my grandmother's wardrobe. But what about her and my cousin of 4years?
I tapped grandma to tell her what I just heard and she assured me to keep calm, my cousin on the other hand was very much asleep. I instantly wished I could turn into a child and be unaware of what was going on in my surrounding.

Taking a pillow I covered my head and put a fingerin each ear. Their voices grew louder and just then, a dog started to bark. I have always hated that dog (and all dogs generally), but I think it helped us.It barked violently from a distance and seized a bit. Then resumed, this time even more and came towards our window, running and barking. I could hear the footsteps of the thieves fading as the dog got near and soon after, there was a heavy downpour; the kind that shook the place.

They went to other people's Windows and probably other compounds.The rate of robbery in some parts of Rivers State is becoming alarming. Needless to say, I am not sleeping at home tonight. Should my heart keep skipping this way, I may have hypertension before 20.