An Actual Scary Story

Do you want to hear an actual scary story? This one is true. Probably one of only two times I've been actually scared for my safety. Besides scary car ride stories. We aren't counting those stories.

So I was backpacking through Europe. My sweet friend Kate had done a really great job finding hostels for us all over the place, and we'd been very lucky up to that point. The hostels we'd stayed in had been relatively clean, if not immaculate - Berlin, Germany, for example, was awesome. We were on our way, though, to Prague. And let's just say that Prague was still in the midst of a post-communism adjustment to life. Lots of homeless, lots of drugs, lots of theft.

I must, for a moment, defend that city. It might be one of the most beautiful cities on the planet. Certainly in my top five...of the cities that I have been to, of course. And the people were kind, too. So don't feel bad Prague. I still love you and that visit!

But let's just say that we found our hostel in a not so great part of town. I remember the train ride from the central part of the city - the most beautiful town square you have ever seen in your life - was long. I mean loooooooong. And then the walk to the hostel from there was dark, and I can't say I was super comfortable walking through the neighborhood. In fact, when we first arrived at the hostel, the manager encouraged us to put our passports in the front desk safe. We scoffed. After leading us to the back of the building, up steps, down steps and up some more, past old furniture crowded into dank and narrow hallways, Kate, Amy and I were a little worried.

Then there was the sign on bar covered window: a sketch of a "thief/junkie" out looking to steal from unsuspecting tourists. Keep your eyes peeled, and keep the door locked. In fact, there was a tiny glass case next to the door in the room containing a key to be used to open the bars covering the window in case of fire. Add to that the smell of urine emanating from the sheets, and let's just say that I was uncomfortable. I think it's safe to say that we all were.

Oh well, we were off to see the sites anyway. And we stayed out pretty late eating dinner and enjoying the city. When we got back, it was probably close to eleven, and we settled in for the night. We started chatting and laughing and were just having a good time in general when we heard someone knocking on a door across the hall. The knocking continued until someone came to the door. Whoever was in the hall proceeded to yell loudly, but clearly whoever had answered the door had no idea what this man was saying. A sort of scuffle ensued, and a door was slammed. That seemed to be the end of it. The three of us were quietly looking at each other and hoping that no one knocked on our door.

No one did. We continued our conversation, more laughing and such. And then it happened. I looked up at the door to see the handle move, quietly and slowly, down and then back up. I glanced up at Amy, and both of our eyes grew wide. I looked at Kate. She hadn't noticed, clearly. Amy and I were freaked out. Who in the h was trying to get into the room? Of course we told Kate, but she had not seen it happen. She asked us if we were sure. I can still see that room in my mind, and I can still see that handle move down then back up. We were both certain about what we had seen.

Soon after, it was lights out. We wanted to get up pretty early so that we could get up to the castle first thing in the morning. But it was really tough to sleep. I remember in the middle of the night that I was extremely thirsty. Kate was in the bed across the way from me, probably less than three feet away. I didn't want to scare her or Amy while I dug around for my water bottle, but I could not wait any longer. So I quietly tried to feel around for it. Of course, Kate heard me.

"Fish?" she said oh so very tentatively?

"It's me. I'm just so thirsty. I'm sorry."

"Okay," sigh of relief, "just wanted to make sure."

I'm telling you, it was a long night. I finally fell asleep and got up pretty early. I just couldn't shake the feeling that someone was standing outside the door, waiting to get in the room.