The man had shown up out of nowhere.
Katy Ryan pondered the situation from her living room window.
A large man was at her gate, staring at the padlock and leaving footprints in the snow. He was a tall man and even bigger than he had looked when she had seen him in church that morning.
Katy had been out for a jog and had been looking forward to a hot shower and then a warm bed.
She was wearing a gray workout outfit and was about to leave when she caught sight of the stranger.
She peered out at him from under the hood of her raincoat and watched how he appeared to be muttering to himself.
Katy had 40 dollars in her pocket and she had been considering going to the casino, she should have known better, as she was down nearly 90 dollars when she had arrived home.
It was snowing hard and the man was making footprints in that day’s fresh snow so she knew he was there and not just a figment of her imagination.
She had hoped to creep away while he was checking out the padlock, the man had found her house, of that she had absolutely no doubt at all.
She knew the odds of a man finding her home were next to impossible, but here he was, standing at her gate.
She was soaking wet from her jog and shivering from cold, so she was glad to think that even if he had seen her, he would be leaving and not doing anything other than catching his death.
The thought that it might be a serial killer crossed her mind but she dismissed it right away as silly and without any proof.
All she could do was just stare at him as he stood there and left a trail leading to her door, she laughed for a moment and then started to shiver as the cold quickly made its way to her bone marrow.
She came to the conclusion that he was either drunk, or he was some kind of religious freak. She didn’t know what to do.
She then heard a knock on the door and rushed to hide behind the heavy red drapes, then looking through a small gap she saw him standing, motionless.
She heard him move again and she looked through the gap to find him standing outside, checking the window to see if she was at home.
She darted away from the curtains and then went out into the kitchen, then she heard another knock and her heart was pounding like a drum.
She did not want to answer the door, but she did not want him standing outside in the cold, at least not yet anyway.
She looked through the curtains and could not see him and the only sound was the gentle dripping of the snow from the trees and the streetlamp.
Her heart was beating loudly and she was trembling so much that she could feel her knees knocking together, she turned the lock and when she opened the door he was gone, he had disappeared.
She looked into the snowy night and was sure that she had seen him, he had been standing in the snow but now he was nowhere to be seen.
Katy was shivering badly and could not move at all, she waited there for what seemed like hours until she was sure that he wasn’t standing there any more.
When she felt that she was ready to stand her legs nearly gave way and she collapsed onto the floor, she screamed into her hands and then she started to sob.
Her mind raced and her tears came on like a flood bursting from a broken dam.
She started to get really scared.
She was scared that he had been there and that maybe next time she saw him he would be less than civil, maybe he was a psycho or a serial killer.
She heard a noise coming from outside her door and assumed that it was the delivery guy again.
“This is bring it into the kitchen, the customer is paying full price.”
She stood and walked to the door and peeked out through the small gap to see a well dressed man in a wool overcoat smiling at her with his hand outstretched, He worked at the local magazine and was a subscriber of Katy’s.
His name was Michael and he was 30 years old, he was handsome and very cute.
Katy opened the door and watched as he stepped into the hallway and then he was standing in her warm flat, taking his coat off.
He nodded to her and then looked at her.
“That guy out there is acting odd, I hadn’t recognized the company vehicle.” He said.
“What? I don’t know what you mean…” She quickly replied.
“I could be wrong, maybe after Christmas he’ll be back to normal.” He said.
Katy smiled and then she watched as he sat down on the couch and then he pulled a magazine out of his bag.
“I’ll just read this before I leave.” He said.
She was standing there staring at him, wondering where he had been and then she heard a knock on the door again.
She turned to look at the door and then she heard the sound of knocking again, she rushed to the door and looked through the hole, she could see that the man was standing there this time in the dark shadows.