Don't. Panic.

As some may (or may not) know, I work at a dog daycare. Yes, child, a dog daycare. Did you know there was such a thing? Surely. There is.

Sometimes, as an employee I oversee going to people who are at work or on vacation's houses to A) feed their cat(s) or B) Walk their dogs. On this particular sunny June day, I was destined to walk Bailey. Bailey the sweet, sweet Beagle. As I pulled up to a very attractive, cuddly cottage in West Seattle, I thought to myself, my this will be a pleasant walk. Do you get the feeling it wasn't?

I approach the door and fumble through my ring of keys (henceforth I am known as The Keeper of The Keys). I open the door, and what doest thou hear? I hear a beep. That is NOT what I want to hear as I'm opening the door of a house I've never been to. NO. Incorrect.

I'm obviously imagining things because surely my boss would have told me if there was an alarm at Bailey's house. So, in disbelief, I close the door. YES, my sweet reader, I closed the door. Why did I do that? Somehow in the vast expanse of my mind, I assumed that if I closed the door the alarm would just, dare I say it, shut off. How wrong my child! How wrong!

Coming to my senses I opened the door again. Surprise, it was still beeping furiously, alerting me that if I did not act the homeowners would be notified and the police, summoned. My heart was beating so loud I thought Bailey might have heard it across the room with her big Beagle ears. What do I do? What do I do? Think, you are a college student, make moves. I pull out my cell phone and call my boss.

Kendall: (Phone is ringing.) Why isn't she answering!?!?!
Boss: (After third ring.) Hello?
Kendall: WHAT IS THE CODE TO BAILEY'S ALARM SYSTEM! TELL ME NOW! IT'S GOING TO GO OFF!!!!!!!! HELP ME! HELP MEEE!

I know how to keep calm under pressure. My boss, bless her, somehow managed to tell me the code over my obnoxious-freaking-out-ness and I punched in those numbers like I'd never punched in numbers before. The alarm went silent. I sighed, deeply, checking my pulse. Bailey stared at me from her crate.

I might have stood for a whole thirty seconds in complete silence, trying to remember what just happened. My breathing was irregular and I heard a siren in the distance. Thankfully, that siren did not show up at Bailey's house. Needless to say, the actual walk was uneventful.