Don't think too hard... go with the first memory that comes to mind: The word is FLASHLIGHT. 10 minutes. Write.

When I was six years old, my parents hired a contractor and began building a new house in Farmington. This would be a big change for our family, moving from the country where we lived in a converted street car on my grandparents' apple orchard to a ranch-style, brick house smack dab in the middle of suburbia. My parents kept a close eye on the construction of the house, visiting frequently to check on the progress. I remember tagging along on a few of those visits. My brother and I were excited about our new home, particularly about the fact that we would each have our own bedroom. Our mom and dad showed Mike and I where our bedrooms were located and pointed out the bathroom across the hall that would be ours as well.

One day when we visited, the foundation and framing had been completed and the plumbing and electrical was just being started. As I wandered aimlessly back to my bedroom/bathroom area, I peered curiously down the black hole in the floor where the toilet would soon be mounted. There, staring back up at me, was the eerie, creepy face of a teenage boy. It was every little girls' nightmare (probably big girls as well!), and I was so startled all I could do was gasp. As I stood there, petrified, I was temporarily blinded by a flashlight that played across my face and I could hear the sound of muffled conversation and laughter coming from the boys in the crawl space under the house.

Finally springing into action, I ran to tell my parents. I was so shaken up that I began crying after getting over the initial shock. Of course, by the time my dad took a look for himself, the boys had high-tailed it out of there. We later found out that several of the newly-constructed homes in the neighborhood had been vandalized by a group of teenagers; our house luckily never sustained any damage.

From then on, I've always been a little creeped out about windows at night, ensuring that the blinds and shades are tightly drawn. It's my biggest nightmare that, once again, a face will be peering at me from out of the inky darkness!