Checking."

"Were you checking anything out?"

"I was checking out the house."

"Did you have any idea why you were searching?"

"In case there might be somebody hiding in the house."

"Who might be hiding?"

"People. Them. Those people."

"Did you know about those people then?"

"Yeah."

"What did you know?"

"They might be hiding in the house."

"Did you tell anyone about it?"

"No. I didn't know about 'em."

"Did your wife ask you why- you were looking in the closet?"

"No. She never saw."

"You hid that from her?"

"Yeah. And from my boy. I've got a gun."

"What sort of gun?"

"Riot gun."

"When did you get that?"

"October."

"When in October?"

"We went to the gun store. About... the leaves were falling …. I don't know, I think it was... in October... middle of October... but I went right out and got it... ."

"What did you want it for?"

"Protection."

"From what?"

"Not sure. I just have the feeling sometimes... there are people in the house."

"I'm going to take you forward in time, forward in time to the evening of the twenty-sixth.

You're going up to bed to go to sleep."

"Yeah."

"Going up to bed to go to sleep now. I want you to tell me everything that happens. You are going to remain calm, and tell me what happens."

"We go to sleep in bed. I have a real good book to read. Give Anne kiss. Can hear the snow on the house, a little bit of snow. Turn out the light. I go to sleep. Did I turn on the burglar alarm? Hmm. I listen to the radio for a while. They have on 'Our Front Porch'? Jazz.

S'late. Turn it off and the whole place fills with quiet. Now I'm getting sleepy. Go to sleep.

[Long pause.] Definitely... think... I hear 'em. I hear them. Comes right in the door, looks like he's wearing — cards. God damn! I can really see this! He looks like he's wearing cards.

On his chest, this big, square blue card on his chest. An oblong one down on his middle. And he has on a — a round hat. And he's wearing a face mask with two eyeholes and a round hole between them down toward the bottom and he's moving real fast. And he makes stands beside my bed and makes a gesture to the door. And there's a hell of a lot of them! Filing into the room! I'm talking about a lot of them. They're not wearing the cards. They're wearing overalls

— coveralls — blue. I can see their heads, which are bald. Time to get up. I get up. I'm scared, you see. I'm scared as hell. I take off my pajamas. Scariest to see Anne. I have to say good-bye to her now. There's two whole rows of 'em. I'm going out. They're moving me.