The Case of the Mysterious Cheese

I took a nap yesterday while Michael was out running errands. McKenzie and the boys were playing the Wii. Later we went to a barbeque and returned home late. After we rushed the kids to bed, Michael and I unwound by watching another episode of Criminal Minds. After it was over, we quickly tidied the kitchen and started the dishwasher. While I was putting things away I opened the fridge and saw half of a package of sliced American cheese. We don’t normally stock sliced American cheese, and I knew that hadn’t been there earlier that day. I asked Michael if he had put it there, and he knew nothing about it, nor of the paper bag of carrots on the top shelf. I joked, “Maybe this is a new MO where the killer puts food in your fridge and then hides out to kill you later.” Michael laughed at such a ridiculous idea, and we went to bed.

Later during the night, I suddenly awoke and swore that I saw a tall figure in our doorway. I freaked out. I started screaming this strange hyphenated scream that immediately woke Michael up. He had strained his back earlier that day, and when I screamed, he jolted to a sitting position, which wrenched his back terribly. He asked what was wrong and I gasped that there was someone in our doorway… but when we looked, no one was there. I sort of wondered if the intruder had slipped around the corner, but soon realized that really, there was no one there. I felt very sheepish. As I rubbed Michael’s back I explained that I was on edge because I couldn't figure out how that cheese got in our fridge. Where did it come from? While I was telling him this, I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye and heard a noise. I jumped out of my skin and screamed again. There really was an intruder, and he was IN OUR ROOM! Then we realized that it was only Megan. She had come into our room and walked over to my side of the bed while I was freaking out. She didn't seem fazed at all. She laid down on our bed and quickly fell asleep, while I once again tried to calm down.

It took some time for my hands to stop trembling and my heart to slow down enough for me to go back to sleep. The next morning, Michael called Sarah, our babysitter who watched the kids while I was in Seattle, to see if she had left the food there the weekend before. She didn’t know anything about it. After she hung up, she mentioned the strange phone call to her dad. He immediately called Michael back and let him know that he had dropped off the leftover cheese and carrots from Scout Encampment. Apparently, he had given it to McKenzie while I was napping, and she put it in the fridge and forgot to tell us about it. So, no killers were planting food in our fridge, it was just a combination of generous neighbors, a silent daughter, and a sleepy child. Go figure.