The Visit

I know some people have heard this story already, but it's really one of the funniest things to happen to me lately. So I'll tell it anyways.

I usually get to bed later than I'd like to every night, because it's hard to get to sleep in the middle of the afternoon. On Thursday night, though, I got to bed almost on time, to give me lots of sleep in preparation for the whirlwind of a weekend I had planned. A few hours after I went to bed, the phone rang, but I decided not to answer it, as I was really enjoying my sleep. Bad idea.
At 1am, my alarm goes off as usual. I'm lying there, trying to get the motivation to get up, when I hear some banging and clanging, which I assign to the house next door, as there is no one around to bang and clang in my house at that late/early hour. Then, to my horror, on snaps my hallway light. Great, there are some really bold burgler in my house just in time for me to catch them on my way to work. I'm paralyzed in my bed imagining what horror may be coming up the stairs, and then someone sticks his head in my door.
"Hello? Are you awake?" he asks. What a moronic burgler, checking for inhabitants so obviously. Then, the guy flicks on my light, and Lo and Behold, it's my brother Alex. He asks me: "Did Ryan say anything to you?" I hadn't seen Ryan in days, as my sleep schedule doesn't allow for that too often. Al then proceeded to explain his quandry, which Ryan, and the earlier phone call, were supposed to have informed me of much earlier.
"My youth group is coming back from a mission trip, and we were supposed to stay at this church, but the guy there didn't remember we were coming so we coudln't get in. I've got 25 high schoolers downstairs who need a place to camp for the night, is it alright if we stay here?" How can I say no to 25 people who have already arrived, sleeping bags in hand, to sleep in my empty house? So I threw on some clothes and ushered them in.
They filled the ENTIRE house. There were 4 girls in my room, they were lined up like sardines in the empty office, there were 3 boys on the twin bed in the basement, there were boys piled on each other in the living room, Alex set up camp under the dining room table.
By the time they were settled in, I was ready to get to work. So they set down to sleep, and I went out to deliver my papers. After work, and a workout, I come home to partake in the donut and orange juice breakfast and oversee some clean-up. They were in and out between 1 and 8, with the house none the worse for wear. Only one kid left anything behind, and the girls in my room very kindly made my bed for me.
Moral of the story: if you have spontaneous siblings, who tend to tote around large groups of adolescents, always answer the phone. And never assume that the bumping and clattering must be coming from next door.