Strange Creature

#11 in the I-Alice series

Snowflakes had begun to fly. We had been hurrying to finish our new house. Meanwhile we were living in the old house where the bedroom had been ripped open and only plywood sheets covered the open space. Thus on this silent starless night there would be enough room for strange creatures to sneak into our makeshift bedroom. No longer were there voices giving orders to inexperienced workers; the drills were no longer squealing, the hammering and sawing had ceased at sunset.

Fearing the unknown, I ended up being a light sleeper, constantly on the alert for any attacker that might come crawling through the opening in the dark, dark night. The rustling of the trees nearby would awaken me sending shivers up my spine. Our two little daughters slept together for the first time ever, and I made sure they were near our own bed. When their groaning and mumbling would awaken me, I’d sit up and grab my stick ready to fend off any intruder.

Then I woke up to the commotion two girls wrestling under the covers. “Hurry, hurry mom, I need your help!”

“Can you catch it, Millie?” I asked shivering with excitement. “I’ll get the lamp so we can see.” Hurriedly I grabbed the box of ‘strike anywhere’ matches and put the flame to the wick of the lamp. I was sure I heard other sounds.

Mildred gasped, “I caught it! I caught it Mommy. Do hurry! This thing has gone wild trying its best to get away from me!”

“Hold on Mildred!” I shrieked, “Can you feel what it is?”

“Yes, Mama, it has a stubby tail but it’s got no hair!”

“A stubby tail that has no hair?” I muttered. Visions of strange creatures floated by my blinded eyes. “Merciful heavens child, hang on. I’ll be right there to help.”

Gingerly I stepped over the clothes lying on the floor and grabbed my stick. My next move was to throw the comforter up, over and off the frightened girls, expecting to see a strange creature scurrying out from under the covers. To my relief I saw it was Brenda’s big toe that Mildred was hanging onto.

I blew out the lamp’s flame, and crawled back into bed, even more aware of every movement in the stillness of the night. “Short tail and no hair! Whew!!”