The sky is screaming for help as I trudge through the muddy walkway near my house. I’m half-tempted to scream out for help myself as I search for my fallen house keys. I could break a window but then I’d have to pay a large sum of money that I’d have to scramble around to find the funds for. It wasn’t worth it, so I continued the search for my keys. My fingers are muddy, dirt is trapped under my nails, and I probably look unrecognizable with how drenched I am.

I hate this house. This old house that I’m supposed to care for because it’s been in our family too long to sell. My sister, Lois, never came around here. She said it was because she was too busy with the kids and her teaching job at the school but I knew the truth. She hated this place as much as I did. Something in that house was always breaking, whether it be a floorboard, a toilet, or the kitchen sink. I was so sick of it, yet as the eldest daughter, it was my job to live here and take care of our family legacy. I felt more like a junkyard overseer than a house owner.

A loud, rumbling thunder halts me in place as a flash occurs with it. Great, I think, now I’ve got to worry about lightning. Sure, it was a rarity to get hit, but I wasn’t taking no chances. I move even quicker as I dig my hands into the ground, and then finally I touch something. It’s not key-shaped at all. Whatever it is, it is round like a ball. I pull it out, holding it upward, and use the heavy rain to rinse it off. Once it’s clean, I stare up at it and see it’s an…eye? It’s gotta be some kind of eye-shaped ball or maybe something that belongs to a doll but it feels too fleshy. Almost like how I imagine a real eye would feel.

I stare at it a bit more, studying it. As I do so, the strangest thing happens. The pupil moves—almost like it’s studying me. I scream, dropping the eye back into the dirt. Another rumble of thunder comes as the rain continues to pelt me. I almost lose my balance but somehow manage to stand steady.

“Looks like someone finally found my eye…”

I sharply turn my head, my eyes widening as I see a one-eyed man staring at me. I lose my balance as I try to run away.

“Now, now, Laura Allen, has no one ever told you to never wander out in the woods alone?” The one-eyed man has a sinister grin as he studies me. “You never know what hungry creature might be out there.”

As I find fear overwhelming me, I realize something. This one-eyed man wasn’t a man at all. Even though it’s hard to see with the heavy rain pounding on me, I make out gills on his hands. Hands with fingers that are meshed together to look like fins. His skin is a bluish-green, and he is inching too close to me.

I try to get up, but I fall back down. Still, I refuse to become this creature’s meal. I move by crawling, pulling myself up, then trying to make another run for it. Again, I fall, although this time I feel small, sharp teeth in my leg. I kick off the creature with all my strength, pushing myself up so I could stand. When I manage to do so, I make my way up and practically jump to try to get closer to the house.

“You Allen women all think you’re fighters but just cause your grandma poked out my good eye don’t mean you’re not gonna be my next meal, sweetheart.”

I turn around, surprising him, and land a heavy punch. The heaviness of my soaked clothes

makes me have to use more effort to move my arm. I almost want to look on as I watch him fall, but I don’t. Instead, I keep moving. I make it to the porch, then punch the front window. The sound of shattering glass is not louder than the thunder that screams above me.

I’m exhausted, but I ride the wave of adrenaline to keep moving.

My fist is bloody, but I push myself through the window, letting myself fall onto the floor like a flopping fish. I stay there for a minute and listen out for any movement, but nothing has followed me. The house is filled with only the sound of thunder and my labored breathing. Gathering my strength, I peer out of the window and see that creature glaring at my broken window. Yet he makes no move to come closer. I breathe heavily as I look out the window with relief on my face.

Maybe this house was good for something.