I saw Sunday - Vandalism.

It was Saturday, 2am and we were fast asleep. Suddenly in the silence the sound of shattering glass resounded through the house. We were dazed and unsure about what had happened.

I thought maybe it was in the street or across the road from us. As I reached the lounge window a family member yelled get away from that window. It was too late I had already stepped on a thick layer of glass which crunched under my slipper. I ignored the warning and drew back the curtain, the huge window had been smashed and a brick was lying 2 meters away from the window where it had landed after bouncing off the old glass pane.

A family member said we should phone the police. I was not sure what would that achieve. The woman across the road stood at her gate and called to our neighbour EH and asked him if it had happened on his property. I stuck my head through the hole and yelled it happened at this window. She had not seen me in the darkness and got a jolt when she heard my voice so close to her. She replied that she had seen a guy in a black hooded jacket walk away from our house after it happened. I asked her if it was a white guy and she replied yes. She said she was going to call the police I did not reply.

The phone rang, it was EH from next door. After confirming that it had happened at our house he asked if he could come over and help check if anyone was lurking in the shadows. We welcomed his generous offer. I changed into my clothes.

Suddenly I panicked. Our little black dog usually barks if there is any movement at the front door and I had not heard him make any sound. I rushed out of the back door checking in the darkness if I could see any lurking figures and suddenly the little sleepy head comes from his warm bed and snuggles his warm nose against my hand. I could cry with joy but I patted him gently and went into the house. I walked straight into EH who had arrived with his gun wearing shorts and no shoes in the bitter cold. EH helped check the whole property (with bare legs and feet), had a quick cup of coffee and then he rushed off home (I think to get some heat into his nether regions).

It is amazing how cold the house became. We went back to bed to get some heat into our bodies but I did not sleep again. I kept listening in case someone tried to get in through the window because it is very close to the road. The burglar bars were still intact.

I got up early and picked up the larger pieces of glass and then sat with a banister brush for about half an hour brushing all the glass splinters out of the carpet. No police arrived and at 8.30am we phoned the glass fitters to come and replace the pane. R650 later and 1.30pm we had the window repaired and cleaned up the mess.

I am convinced it was not an attempted robbery but an act of vandalism.

Thursday afternoon when I came to the stop street at the corner of our block I noticed a teenage boy forcefully throwing gravel at a good friend’s house on the corner. I watched the youth for about 2 minutes while he frantically threw the gravel from across the road trying to get it over a high wall and aiming at a window. Suddenly the youth spotted me and I drove into our driveway. I did not glare at him or confront him, I left it like that. While I was pondering in the dark about which enemies we might have who would want to do something like this I could only think of this chap. I will probably wonder forever who had done this and probably never know the answer.