First, before I tell this story, let me say that it will sound highly improbable. Having said that, I will leave it to you to decide if it really happened or if it is just the daydream of an older man who would like to believe such things are possible.

I met M (I’ll call her that to protect her identity) in the normal course of the work we both do. She is much younger than I, but after running into her at several different work-related events, we came to think of each other as friends. From time to time, I flirted with her a bit, thinking that because I was so much older, she would think me harmless, but of course wishing that she wouldn’t.

During one of our conversations, I mentioned some documents that I had put together which were related to our work. She expressed an interest in reading them, indicating that she thought they might be helpful to her. I promised I would get them to her when the chance came up.

A few weeks later, I had occasion to visit a city about an hour’s drive from the small town I live in. I was pretty sure that she lived near that same city, so I called her and asked if she lived close enough to the city that I could drop off the documents on my way. She indicated that that would be okay with her, gave me the address, instructions on how to get there, and asked what time I would be there. I told her that I figured I would leave after lunch, around one, and so I would probably get there around 2:00 to 2:15.

As luck would have it, a little later that morning I got a call from my boss asking if I could meet with her around 4:30 that afternoon. Before I thought about it, I said yes. It dawned on me as soon as I hung up that I would be cutting it very thin to drop off the documents, get to the city and conduct my business there, and get back by 4:30, so I just decided to leave right away. It was around ten, so I called M, figuring I would ask if I could come by around 11:30 or so, but no one answered. I decided to leave anyway, thinking I could just leave the documents in the door or something if she wasn’t home.

I had asked directions from her earlier when I called, and I had no trouble finding her house. I recognized her car in the drive and the nameplate by the front door was correct, so I parked at the curb and walked up to the front door. The door was slightly ajar, which I thought was a bit odd, but then in small towns, people are often not careful about those things, so I didn’t think much about it. I knocked two or three times, but no one came to the door, so I scribbled a note on the cover of the documents and went in, thinking I would put them on a chair or somewhere that she would see them.

As soon as I entered the house, I heard a soft moaning sound coming from a hallway off the living room. My imagination immediately took over. Was someone hurt? Was there an intruder? Was that why the door was open? My first impulse was to call out, but I just as quickly decided that if there was an intruder, I didn’t want to call attention to myself, so I proceeded as quietly as I could into the hallway. At the end of the hall, there was a door partly open. At that moment, I heard the moaning again coming from the room behind the door. I peered cautiously through the partly open door, fearing what I might see.