Things that go bump in the night

I was home alone last night. My housemate went to Dublin to stay with her boyfriend for a few days. I know it's completely psychological because I rarely wake during the night when there's someone else in the house, but I was wide awake at 5am listening to see f I could hear anyone creeping about downstairs!!! What the hell is THAT about? Does It stem from childhood when our misguided parents attempted to get us to stay in our beds with the threat that if you dared to venture out of it in the middle of the night, the boodyman (some strange mythical creature out to do as much evil as possible in the hours of darkness) would be lurking in the shadows waitng to grab you! Now, I realise there are of course those who ARE out to cause harm and destruction under the cover of darkness but what convinces me that they would pick MY house over the hundreds of thousands in this city?

Of course it's always just as you are about to drop off to sleep again that the house suddenly makes a creaking sound that doesn't sound familiar and your up boltright in the bed "what the **** was that?" well, my Mom always says 'best to know the truth, than imagine the worst'... In other words, get up and check if there's anyone there rather than spend the rest ofthe night quivering under the covers... A wise woman!! So I did, and of course there was no one there, but it was the scariest minute of my life. I'm tellng ya something, when I get my new house, I'm gonna have gates, I already have the high Walls, an alarm, internal keys for ALL the doors and a big baseball bat... Word of warnng friends, don't come surprising me in the middle of the night... If ye value ye're lives.
D. x