Late Night Noises

I thought I heard something ~ Daily Flash Fiction Winner

A noise coming from downstairs. A bleary eyed glance at my alarm clock reads nearly two in the morning. What the hell? But there it is again; a kind of grunting sound and then something being knocked over and crashing on the floor. That better not have been my grandmother’s vase. Whispered voices, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. Whoever they are, they picked the wrong house! I reach for the service revolver hanging from the holster on my headboard, send a text to the officer working at the switchboard, and make my way silently down the hall and down the stairs.

Furniture scraping across my hardwood floor, rhythmic grunting coming from the living room. I can hear the sirens closing in from a distance. I raise my firearm, reach around the wall for the switch, and turn on the light.

“Mom!” My teenage daughter jumps up from the couch, her boyfriend hastily pulling away from her. “What are you doing home?”

“I was sleeping. Then I heard a noise downstairs; came down and found you … with him. FREEZE!” Her boyfriend was trying to make a quick exit, made difficult by his pants falling down around his ankles; he stopped where he stood and held his hands up in the air.

The police arrived then and detained my daughter’s boyfriend; they took all of our statements, then drove him home.

“Mom, I - ”

“You’re grounded.” I told her. “Until your eighteenth birthday.”

She grumbled and stormed off to her room. I locked the doors, set the alarms, holstered my weapon, and went back to bed.

Damn kids …. I giggled.

~ 297 words ~

written for and WINNER of:

Daily Flash Fiction Challenge  (13+) Enter your story of 300 words or less. #896794 by Arakun the twisted raccoon

05.18.2025 Prompt: the line “I heard a noise downstairs.”