The Knock

Stereotypes go wrong when this old woman knocks on the door in the middle of the night.

A knock came to the door. It was, I assume, around two in the morning. Too tired to even wonder why any decent respectful person would be knocking at this time, I dragged myself to the door. I peeked through the peephole and saw a tired looking old woman standing at my door, with only one light sweater on. Oh, what a poor old woman, I thought. She must be so cold. I unlocked the hatch and slid the door open, and she sighed, "Thank you, I'm so very cold.". She slowly walked in, carrying her bag carefully, almost like a child. Her steps were somewhat off, with a step, then another four seconds later. I, barely knowing her, almost felt protective of her. I put my arm around her small back and led her to a chair. Having sat down, she smiled (she had all her teeth!) and politely asked for a cup of tea. I happily obliged and went straight to the kitchen.

  With tea done brewing, I brought it out to the living room along with some biscuits (or cookies, same thing). She had made herself quite at home in her little armchair. She was curled up like a small child in the chair, and she looked ready to nod off. She was evidently still awake, because she almost jumped out of her chair and hugged me when I handed her the tea. With a small smile she drank the tea down in two or less gulps, the smile staying on her face. When she set the cup down, she said with a bigger grin than before, "Would it be too much to ask for your name, sir?". I kindly shook my head and replied, "No, not at all. My name is Peter.". The asking of her name did not occur to me. She was just an innocent old woman. "Peter, would you like to see something you would've not thought possible?", she asked. I nodded, expecting a parlor trick of sorts. She looked at me while fumbling through the bag she had been holding so carefully. She, to my dismay, pulled out a mousegun. I couldn't say anything. I was frozen. Why would a lost old woman kill me? She couldn't. She was just a lost old woman. "Now watch this.", she said. Quickly firing two shots into my chest, my last thoughts were how could an old woman kill me? It turns out regardless of age and gender, you can still use guns.