A Man In His Darkness

Isiah had always thought of his life as ordinary, predictable. He was an average student at an average high school, with a few close friends and a loving family. But on a warm summer evening, everything changed. Isiah's parents had gone out for the night, leaving him and his younger brother alone in the house. Isiah was in his room, scrolling through his phone, when he heard a loud bang from downstairs. At first, he thought it was just the TV, but when he heard shouting, he knew something was wrong. He rushed down the stairs, heart pounding, to find two masked men in the living room. They had broken in through the front door and were ransacking the house, throwing furniture and smashing glass. Isiah froze, not sure what to do. One of the men saw him and started towards him, but Isiah's instincts kicked in and he ran for the back door. He could hear the men chasing him, but he didn't look back. He stumbled out into the backyard and tripped over a garden hose. When he looked up, he saw the men standing over him, guns drawn. Isiah closed his eyes, waiting for the worst, but when he heard sirens in the distance, the men took off, leaving him alone in the dark. The police arrived a few minutes later, and Isiah told them what had happened. They took a report and dusted for fingerprints, but the men were never caught. Isiah's parents were shaken by the break-in, and they decided to move to a new neighborhood. Isiah tried to put the incident behind him, but he couldn't shake the feeling that his life would never be the same.