Time had flown by quickly; every year, Sasha would make New Year resolutions, but she would fail to achieve every year. This year she thought to make a list that was easy to accomplish, but again, the year was about to come to an end, only a few hours left, and yet she had not been able to complete a single thing on the list. With the horrible day she had at work and the bad luck she got when she arrived only two minutes late at the bus stop, she felt flaky and depressed for many reasons. Another additional being that she was unable to spend the holidays with her parents, as she had work piled up. She thought to look at the list one last time. Maybe she would be able to succeed in at least one small thing. Which would aid her in feeling content
and satisfied. To get rid of the feeling of sorrow.
Sasha started to cross off everything one by one. Reaching at the last, she abruptly stopped. In small letters, it had been written: "help a person in need." Sasha gazed at the words for a long time. Thinking that maybe she could finish this goal. She strained her head hard, but it kept
coming up blank. Pacing in the living room, thinking that maybe she could help at the homeless shelter. But it was snowing heavily, and the news said it would take at least four hours before
clearing up. No one in her neighborhood would be needing anything at this moment. She could have dinner with the lonely lady down by the street, but Sasha did not like her presence because of the fact that she always smelled like stale fish.
Plopping on the couch, with a sigh, she turned the TV on. Skipping through channels, she found nothing entertaining. Abruptly, a loud noise bursting through the house. Sasha jumped in terror, looking around, but suddenly the electricity went out. Her vision became black as the night. Not even the moon was aiding her insight. The sudden darkness scared her to the core. She
roamed her hands in search of her phone and was very glad to feel it underneath the cushion behind her. Sasha turned on the torch of her phone but instantly regretted the action, as there was a six-foot-tall man standing in front of her. With a black mask on his face that only showed his icy blue eyes. A sharp knife in his hand. With Sasha's heart beating rapidly and eyes popping out of her head. She started to scream, but before she could utter a single sound, the intruder tackled her onto the sofa and put his hand on Sasha's mouth. With a deep voice, he said, "I'll put this.
Knife in your throat if you utter a single sound". The intruder grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head.
Once the intruder was sure that Sasha was not going to scream. He asked, "if I remove my hand from your mouth, will you scream?" Weakly, Sasha nodded her head to say "no." The intruder removed his hand slowly and released his grip on her hands. He got up and said, "no one has to get hurt, just give me what I need." Sasha looked fragile and petrified. Her eyes became watery, and in a feeble voice, she asked, "what do you want from me." The man turned the light on and looked inquisitively around the house. His eye got glued on the fridge in the kitchen. He stood in front of the fridge and opened it gently. His eyes bulged after seeing all the food. Took out a plastic bag from his jacket and began to fill it up.
From behind, Sasha was watching intensely. She was surprised to see the actions of the intruder. “Out of all the things in the house, why would he open the frier?” Sasha thought. Confused by his activities, she got up quietly and strolled towards him. However, the wooden floor under her, screeched by her footsteps, she stopped sharply. The man turned his head with a snap, barking.
"sit back down!" Sasha followed the instructions promptly. Her heart was beating at the speed of light. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to call the police but knew what the consequences would be. All she could do was sit without making a sound.
After filling the bag with food, the man turned to find Sasha sitting on the couch, looking as if she was about to pass out. The man felt bad for what he was doing, but it was something he must do. It was unavoidable. He looked at Sasha, feeling horrible. She backed away in terror, saying, "please take whatever you want, just don't hurt me." The man softened his look and
apologized to her. Sasha, being surprised by the intruder's words, suddenly looked at him with eyes wide open. The man, in a gentle and remorseful tone, said, "I am sorry, I know I should not be doing this, but I don't have any other choice. My wife is in the hospital suffering from
cancer. I don't have any money for her treatments". The man's voice quivered but completed his words. "My children are at home crying from hunger; I do not have a choice, I am sorry." With this, the man ran outside and seemed to disappear into thin air.
Sasha was shocked. Her mind was having a million thoughts at once. On the one hand, she felt
anger towards the man, who had broken into her home, but also felt sympathetic to the man.
Not knowing what to feel, she laid her head on a pillow. Turning on her back, she looked at the plain
white ceiling. Even though she felt unpleasant and felt a little bit used due to the event, a thought occurred in her head "even though it was unintentional; I was able to accomplish one goal from my list." With this last thought, she drifted into a deep sleep.