Fern decided when she got the car last week that she would move her saving money from the small safe under the counter to a savings account at the local bank. Today is Monday, so she plans on driving to the bank tomorrow to open the account and deposit the money.
Freeman Market doesn't have many customers today since it's a Monday. Fern closes the store at 7, walks through the red door and straight into her bathroom to shower.
She comes out 20 minutes later, her slim frame wrapped in a towel. She puts leftover pot roast from Aunt Marcy in the microwave and then walks into her bedroom to get dressed while it cooks. The microwave dings as she walks back out of her bedroom in loose pajamas.
After she eats, Fern sits Indian style on a kitchen chair, combing her waist length red hair and humming with her sweet voice.
Fern has always had a beautiful voice and enjoyed singing, but never wanted to try and be a famous singer.
After her hair is combed, she grabs a package of Oreos and heads into her bedroom to watch Netflix before going to bed.
At 11:30, she shuts off her phone she's watching tv on, plugs it into its charger, and gets up to brush her teeth before going to sleep.
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Fern jolts awake and sits up. Panting lightly, she stops to figure out what woke her up. Then, she hears the sound of the bell on the store door ring and suddenly cut out, as if silenced. Then footsteps. Fern bolts into action. She grabs the pistol from under her bed and yanks her phone off the charger. She pulls up the keypad on her phone as she creeps out her bedroom door. Her father had given her this pistol, and she had taken firearm safety courses and gotten a gun permit, as well as do a few target practices with her dad in the woods behind her parents' house. She knows how to use this gun, and has a good eye, but she definitely doesn't want to kill anyone.
Fern debates for a split second whether she should open the red door and confront the burglars, or wait for them to find her. She decides not to confront them, because she can't tell from the sounds of footsteps how many of them there are, or what weapons they have.
Fern dials 911 and holds the phone to her ear with her left hand. She cocks the gun, aims it down towards the legs of whoever dares to come through that red door next, and turns the safety off.
"911, what's your emergency?"