Page 9

Proudly and deliberately, it placed the shirt – a pink button-down – folded nicely on top of the dresser. Now, it only had but to compile the rest of the outfit. It was completely oblivious to the ongoings across the room. Not even when Ben passed by to stand in front of the mirror to the right of the closet did the creature stop to pay attention to him. It wasn’t until he neared the mirror and caught a glimpse of his reflection did all work stop in the closet. Actually, a more accurate way to describe the moment was that all five tentacles twitched grotesquely and then froze.

Khaki pants with a desert-sand collared shirt and taupe penny-loafers.

The shriek of wretched horror that rang out is not a sound that can easily be related through the written word. Suffice it to say that within the very inhuman sound were clearly embedded a range of human emotions, from loathing disgust to contemptuous disbelief. The tentacles all twitched in unison once again, as though the enormous creature that lay hidden in the attic above the closet had just been stepped on by an enormous boot. And then, after another brief moment of awestruck silence, the tentacles all converged on Benjamin’s unsuspecting body, attacking him with forceful conviction, furious speed and frightening unity. They tore the shirt up and over his head, unbuckled his belt and dropped his pants to his ankles, without bothering to remove the loafers – which honestly weren’t that bad, if paired with the right ensemble. The beast paid no heed to the fact that Benjamin was once again standing nearly naked in front of the open window. Better to be seen naked than in that indecent atrocity.

Ben, wholly unprepared for the whirlwind assault, stumbled back and tripped on his pants, falling onto his butt with a thud and a yelp. One of the tentacles took the opportunity to wrench the trousers free from his ankles. Like a squeamish child holding a dead mouse, it carried the pants back to the closet and dropped them in the hamper.

CLIP-CLOP. THUD. A flash of red light bounced around the room.

“Shit,” Benjamin muttered, as he launched to his feet, ran to the pink shirt on the dresser and scrambled to pull it on. He fumbled with each and every button. The tentacles began holding up various pairs of pants next to him. It tried a pair of dark green slacks, though only for a brief second, before flinging them up towards the ceiling. A rumbling grumble bellowed out from the closet, as the creature successively held up three more pairs of pants, and them put them back. It did, however, keep returning to a pair of dark blue jeans. Benjamin looked up from his shirt, having finally buttoned it, to see the jeans momentarily hanging in front of him. TICK-TOCK. He snatched the jeans and began forcing his loafers through. The beast protested, pulling the jeans back down to his ankles. He swatted its tentacle away, as well as another that was attempting to grab hold of the other pant leg.