MY SHORT STORIES

NIGHT TERROR

Clara laid on bed with her back to Matt's, they were both snoring peacefully and without a care in the world, probably dreaming. Them sleeping with their backs to each other wasn't because there had been a conflict between them or anything, in fact they were happily married. When they went to sleep at 9pm the previous night, they slept in each others arms but now it was in the middle of the night and they had had enough time to toss and turn.

It was quite dark and silent in their house apart from the snores that were emanating from the bedroom. No dogs barked and no sirens went off, it was just that eerie and this was the perfect opportunity their guest was waiting for.

From somewhere in the house sounds of little feet pattering on the tiled floor were heard. The sound was out of place since Clara and Matt didn't have any children nor did they own any pets but the sound was so faint that the couple didn't hear it.

Their guest had grey fur, black eyes and a long tail that always followed him wherever he went and he was hungry. He ran to the kitchen looking for scraps but found none, Matt was a compulsive cleaner who always cleaned up every night. The guest was so disappointed and shocked too, in all his life of breaking and entering he had learned that in any area that had that big humming machine that kept everything cold and that device that was sometimes hot, there was always food around. He looked up at the little houses that were made of wood but kept food out of sight and not to mention, way out of reach. This has to be the room but where were the scraps? He decided to check the other rooms, just to make sure that he wasn't making a mistake.

The little fury guest ran along the hallway as fast as his tiny feet could carry him, passing a couple of closed doors until he came upon one that was opened just a crack. His ears perked up as he caught a humming sound, this sound was sort of different from the one he was used to but he decided to check it out, just to make sure.

He went in through the crack and his heart jumped for joy as he saw the wooden doors that kept food out of sight, these were slightly longer and bigger but he wasn't there to look at what humans used to clatter their nests. His eyes moved to the area where the humming was coming from and he quickly scampered over there.

In her sleep, Clara felt something moving up her leg. First it brushed against her foot, then it continued brushing up against her leg. She moved her leg but still it followed. She woke up and payed attention to what was moving up her leg.

At first she thought it was Matt fooling around but when she felt and heard him sleeping soundly, she panicked and kicked her legs before turning on the lights. The moment she kicked her legs, whatever was touching her leg stopped and she couldn't feel it anymore.

She looked over at Matt and started shaking him, trying to wake him up.

"Matt, Matt, wake up. There is something under the blanket", she whispered.

Matt groaned in his sleep but did turn over and peer up at her.

"What is it?" He groaned.

"Something was touching my leg", she explained.

"Did you see it?"

"No".

"Is it still touching your leg?"

"No".

"Then maybe you were dreaming, go back to sleep", he rolled back.

Clara was certain that she wasn't dreaming but she took her husband's advice and lied back down but she couldn't go back to sleep.

A couple of minutes later Matt squealed and jolted awake.

"What was that!" He exclaimed.

"What was what?" Clara asked.

"Something hairy was touching my legs", he explained.

"I told you there was something".

At that exact moment something furry jumped on top of the blanket.

"Is that a rat?!" Clara exclaimed while falling out of bed, her night dress riding up a bit.

Matt jumped out of bed as the rat jumped back to the floor.

"Where did it go?" Matt, who was only in boxers, asked while looking around.

"Under the bed", Clara replied.

Matt ran towards the wardrobe to retrieve his baseball bat and came back to the foot of the bed, where his wife was standing, making sure that the rat didn't move without her seeing it.

"Here, hold this", he handed the bat to Clara. He bent down and got a good grip on the corner of the bed. Clara clutched the bat to her chest, wondering what her husband was up to.

"What are you doing", she asked.

"I am going to lift the bed, when I do so the rat will come out and I want you to hit it with that bat", he explained looking up at her.

Clara nodded at her husband and got a firm grip on the bat while her husband lifted the bed. Once the corner Matt was lifting was about 30 centimetres off the floor and the head of the bed dipped down, the little grey being ran out from under the bed but instead of running towards Clara, it ran towards Matt.

Matt squealed and jumped back, pulling the bed with him before he lost his grip and the corner he was lifted fell back to the floor. The rat ran around his feet and he jumped from foot to foot. Clara stood there looking at her husband, not quite sure what to do. Chances are, if she swung the bat she would miss the rat entirely and hit Matt's legs.

"Just step on it, step on it!" She shouted. The rat was already near his feet hence that was the only reasonable thing to do.

"Are you crazy?!" Matt shouted back, stopping his jumping for a brief moment as he looked at his wife incredulously.

As if the rat had heard Clara's suggestion, it charged towards her. Seeing the new lease the rat was taking, she forgot about the bat in her hands and jumped on top of the bed, dropping the bat and falling on her back. The rat changed its direction and ran out through the door that was opened just a crack and back to its hiding place. There it will wait for sunrise.

Matt was still looking around, frantic, and so was Clara. It seemed as if no one had seen the rat make its hasty retreat.

"Where did it go?" Matt asked.

Clara didn't reply but only shook her head to let him know that she didn't see.

They spent the rest of the night searching and rechecking for their guest. Looking under the bed, by the nightstand, in their blankets and every square inch of their bedroom. By the time they noticed that the bedroom door was open just a crack, the sun was already rising and by that time they were no longer certain whether there had been a rat in their bedroom at all. 

Clara yawned, her eyes heavy with sleep. Matt was sitting on their bed, his eyes drooping.

"I am going to get some fresh air", she declared before walking out of the room.

She went into the sitting room where she opened the sliding door and stepped out. She greedily took in the fresh morning air and closed her eyes to the sun's rays.

As Clara stood there, oblivious to her surroundings, the little guest they had received the previous night ran out of the house of terror and into the world.