《Listen》 Walking home in the rain. Rain came down in sheets, creating a gray noise that drowned out all other sound. The clouds blocked any light from the stars, and this far out in the country street lamps simply didn¡¯t exist. Even so, Josie thought she could see enough to get home safely. Listen¡­ She didn¡¯t have an umbrella. In rain like this an umbrella was useless. She had on a waterproof raincoat that reached her knees and her trusty rubber boots. With them, an umbrella would only serve to keep one of her hands out of its nice warm pocket. Besides, the raincoat had a hood. Hoods were leagues better than umbrellas. Listen¡­ She hummed to herself, muttering the words to one of the songs from My Fair Lady. The movie had been one of her mother¡¯s favorites; it was the first movie she could remember seeing as a child. Josie had seen it so many times she knew the words by heart. They came to her in times like these, when she was cold and tired and couldn¡¯t bring herself to think of much else. Listen¡­ At home there was a pot of beef stew in the fridge. She didn¡¯t have any bread to go with it, though. Could she make savory pancakes to use as bread? No, she didn¡¯t have eggs. She wondered how well fry bread would go with beef stew, mentally thinking up all her quick bread-like options. Suddenly she realized bread wasn¡¯t needed to eat stew. It almost felt like sacrilege, but it could be done. Listen¡­ One foot went in front of the other without regard for where. At this point the street was becoming a river; water was above the neon pink toes of her boots. If the water made it past her ankles it would be worrying, but toes was fine. Honestly it brought her some satisfaction to see the muddy water slide off the tops of her boots. It meant the boots were doing their job. It meant buying them had been a valid decision, and paying extra for neon pink ones was fine because they kept her feet dry. Would boring white boots have kept her feet this dry? Probably, but they wouldn¡¯t have looked nearly as cute while doing it. Listen¡­ A snap cut through the sound of the rain. Josie lifted her head, slowing down. In the distance she could see the silhouette of her house, a black square with a triangle on top. Two familiar trees swayed in the yard, pelted with raindrops. Her eyes swiveled, but turning her head seemed like an excess of energy. She lowered her head again, watching her boots slosh through water. She picked up her muttered recital of the song. ¡°And so rather than do either¡­¡± There was a splash behind her. She stopped, turning to look. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Josie resumed walking. ¡°¡­they do something else that neither-¡°The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Something hit her back. She spun around, fully alert now. Listen¡­ Rain came down in sheets, creating a gray noise that dulled all else. Clouds hid the stars, and this far out street lamps didn¡¯t exist. In the darkness nothing could be distinguished. The human brain, trained to pick out patterns in whatever image the eyes gave it, flickered from one possibility to another. Josie expected something to be there, so her mind showed her shapes and forms everywhere. Listen¡­ Being so focused on what she saw, it took her a few seconds to feel the weight on her back. Something was there, slowly moving up to her neck. Josie spun around again, pulling her hands out of their pockets to flail at whatever it was. A wrist hit something firm yet squishy, and the weight fell off. Without checking what it was, she shoved her hands back in their pockets and walked quickly away. She took a deep breath of cold air. ¡°¡­something else that neither likes at all.¡± Her friends had dropped her off at the end of the road. They always dropped her off there. She usually needed the exercise. They typically offered to take her to her door, and tonight they had insisted, but she¡¯d refused. Now Josie wished she¡¯d accepted. ¡°¡­neither likes at all.¡± What came after that? Listen¡­ Her boot hit something. Something squishy yet firm. Josie stopped, pulling her foot up, and saw something like a slug slide off. It left behind a streak of something dark and viscous. Something she very much wanted to ignore. Finally she became aware of the sound. All around her, beneath the thunder of the rain, was a clicking. It wasn¡¯t cicadas. It wasn¡¯t crickets, either. The sound was too low-pitched for a bug to create it. She¡¯d never heard a frog make a sound like it. It was rhythmic. The clicks almost seemed to match the beating of her heart, almost. The sound was off by just enough to be deeply unsettling. ¡°Likes at all,¡± she repeated through clenched teeth, and ran for the house. Something landed on the back of her head.
Josie¡¯s brother looked up from his computer screen. He checked the clock, saw it was time for food, and pulled his headphones off. With the light from the screen he hadn¡¯t noticed it getting dark. As he walked through the house he flicked the lights on, wondering if he should call Josie. On the one hand, it was pouring buckets outside. On the other hand, she was probably at some fast-food place with her friends. Listen¡­ He got to the kitchen and pulled a box of pizza out of the fridge. He was debating heating the three-day-old slices up in the microwave when lightning struck nearby. As the thunder boomed all lights went dead. He shrugged, deciding that cold pizza was fine. Sure, he could heat it up in the oven, but the power box his computer was now running on would only last half an hour. Listen¡­ Something went splat against the window. Odd, but he didn¡¯t care. He was this close to the next save point, and with focus he could make it. With no light inside or out, he didn¡¯t see something sluglike wiggle under the front door. Listen¡­ Pizza box in hand, he flopped into his chair and slid the headphones over his ears. Click-CLICK.