The adventure began as an innocent sleepover at the house of my best friend, Jamie. We spent the evening playing games, watching movies, and doing all the things that typical nine year old girls do. Some time around midnight we finally decided to go to bed, but sleep wouldn't come. The house heated up like an oven in the hot mid-August sun, and without air-conditioning, it never cooled down. In Jamie's little room we lay on our sleeping bags in long t-shirts and grew restless and bored in the heat. Our only respite was the occasional cool breeze coming from the open window, and that's what gave us the idea to sneak outside and see what the night had to offer.

We waited until the rest of Jamie's family was finally in bed and the house was quiet before making our attempt. When we were sure everyone was at least in bed, we put on our shorts and shoes and crawled out her bedroom window into the cool freedom of the night. We scampered across the road and down a few blocks to be well away from the house. When we had gone as far as we were willing we began our mischief making in full. As a team or on solo dares we ran amok through the neighborhoods, tromping through yards, upsetting dogs, ringing doorbells and running, and generally doing anything we could think of that was annoying but basically harmless.

It wasn't long before we were chilled enough to want to go home and decided to head back. Jamie was well ahead of me and was waiting by her house when I crossed the final road back. At the beginning of our adventure we were cautious and made sure there were no cars whenever we crossed a road, but I had become sleepy and reckless. I misjudged the approaching car and realized a second too late that I might get caught in the headlights. There were no sidewalks where we lived, just steep embankments into storm-water drainage ditches on either side of the roads. Ordinarily I would have jumped across the ditch to Jamie's yard, but instead I jumped straight into the ditch and hunkered down. I pressed myself into dry grasses and weeds of the bank and prayed that I had made it in time.

When the car slowed to a stop above me I knew I was busted. A woman's voice called out, "Hey you, I can see you down there! What are you doing out so late? Are you hurt?" Unable to breathe let alone respond I remained completely silent. I tried to tell myself to run but that too was beyond my abilities at the time. To my surprise the woman never got out of her car for a closer inspection

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