Self knew it, she knew it! SOMETHING is trying to get out of the padlocked shed in Mr. Bowditch’s backyard!
First, the dog starts barking, using her “Intruder Alert” bark.
- She was facing the shed, her ears laid back and her muzzle wrinkled to show her teeth. Foam flew from her mouth with each bark. I ran to her and grabbed her collar and tried to pull her back. She didn’t want to come, but it was clear she also didn’t want to go closer to the locked shed. Even with the fusillade of barks, I could hear that weird scraping, scratching sound. This time it was louder, and I saw the door moving a little. It was like a visible heartbeat. Something was trying to get out . . . Something inside the shed hit the door hard enough for me to hear the thud.
The MC, Charlie, has heard those sounds from the shed before. Since the door to the shed is padlocked, and he doesn’t have the key, he has taken to banging on the door. Whatever is inside quiets after that.
But today, the sounds are loud and manic. The dog, who is old and arthritic, turns tail and runs, “not a single sign of a limp.”
Mr. Bowditch comes outside and yells at the boy to “get away from there!” He straps on his gun, which “looked like something out of Gunfight at the O. K. Corral.” (Self is very impressed that an American teenager knows enough old movies to compare Mr. Bowditch’s gun to the one in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Surely Charlie wasn’t even born yet when the movie came out.)
Then, Mr. Bowditch does this very strange thing: he takes a key from his pocket, unlocks the padlock, walks inside the shed, and closes the door.
Eeeek! Don’t look, self! Cover your eyes! But she has to keep on reading, to find out what sort of strange, malevolent creature is locked in the shed. She hopes it’s not one of those creatures like the ones from the movie Signs. Or one of those click-click creatures from The Last of Us. She’s about ready to scream in terror, though it’s 8:18 a.m. and bright morning. She hopes she can sleep tonight.
Strangely enough, the barking dog’s name is RADAR. She is always the first to sniff out danger, so the name fits.
Stay tuned.