A Creak (Screech) in the Night

     Have you ever been alone in your house and heard a disturbing creak in the night?  The logical part of your mind says there is nothing there but your emotions seem to challenge that.  "It's just the house settling", I say but the house has been here for 20 years when will it be done settling?  Why is it that I can be home alone during the day and never hear these odd creaks, does the house only settle at night?

     When we were first married, sometimes my wife (Mimi) would hear a disturbing creak and urge me to go see what it was.  I would always say "The house is just settling" but "What if it's something else?"  she would exclaim.  What would it be I wonder, a robber? Do I really want to find out?  Reluctantly, I get up to investigate the suspicious noise, tentatively walking through each room asking who was in there, not expecting or wanting an answer.  I'm not sure how I would have responded if someone yelled back saying "I'm here to rob and hurt you".  I suppose they wouldn't have answered, but just pounce on me.  I don't own any weapons of mass destruction, so would have had to use some hand tool (maybe a screwdriver or hammer) to persuade them to leave, thankfully nothing ever happened

    I do recall vividly one night that we heard a screech it the night instead of a creak.  A screech (you know that ear piercing horror movie sound) will make you jump out of bed.  We quickly determined it was the smoke alarm (no smoke), I reset it thinking it was a fluke, it wasn't and screeched again after we were sound asleep.  This time I disconnected it and laid it on the dresser, but once again it screeched, "How can that be?"  So I removed the backup batteries, but to my surprise it screeched again, "What the Hell, Is this a joke? Then we discovered it was the Radon monitor that was plugged in below the smoke alarm.  I removed it.  Since it was summer we opened the windows and went back to bed.  All is well.  That night we learned that a screech is much more disturbing than a creak.

     We are older now and for the most part ignore the creaks in the night; maybe we have become less skittish or concerned about the odd noises.  Just as long as we get a good night sleep they can take what they want, but please leave the coffee pot.