John is awoken by a hard scratching sound from the basement again. “Every night for a week straight, I swear this sound will drive me mad. It’s time to finally man up like Dad would say and ghost down there.” John speaks quietly under his breath as if psyching himself up, but trying to not wake his still sleeping wife.

John blindly grabs the oil lantern and matches on the side table and leaves the bedroom before striking a match and lighting the light, making sure to keep the shutters mostly closed so as to be as stealth as possible. His footsteps are light and the only sound is the gentle scratch of his slippers on the hardwood floor, and his nervous breathing.

After heading down the hallway, then the staircase, cold but comfortable, he pauses to listen. Scratch, scratch, scratch, he hears clear as day muffled only by distance down the stairs and the old basement door. “Now or never’ he whispers to himself as he descends the stairs towards the kitchen. He looks into the dark kitchen, signs of his wife’s cooking from dinner earlier still linger, he swears he can still smell the roast she surprised him with, briefly distracting him from the mission at hand. He slowly approaches the basement door after shaking his reminiscing of the warm and lovely night he had with her. He hesitates as he reaches for the basement doorknob. Slowly turning the brass knob he tries to avoided that blasted squeak the door always makes. “I really need to fix the squeaking” he thinks trying to distract himself further from his nerves. But he is quickly brought back to reality by the scratching, so loud he flinches. A sudden burst of bravery overtakes him as he swings the door open. The squeaking hinges barely audible over the relentless scratching.

He opens the lantern shutters more to illuminate the dark basement stairs. A sudden wave of icy air greets him ,”I hate how cold it is down here” he can’t help but to think as he calls out, “Who is down here?! I’m armed so let yourself be known now!” He bluffs. The scratching suddenly stops and the silence can only unnerve him further. He begins down the stairs, more vigilant than he’s ever been in his life. Suddenly a massive figure runs to confront him at the bottom of the stairs. His beam of light reveals a massive rat nearly the size of a teenager, and John can’t help but to let out a blood curdling scream as the rat leaps to him with unbelievable speed. It’s yellowed teeth sink deep into his cowering arms and he can only think of the danger he’s just put himself and his family in.