• The thing was almost upon her, reaching out to grab her. It had the most horrible leer stretched across its hideous face. As Tracy cried out, the monsters fist rammed her in the chest, flinging her backwards and slamming her into the wall of her crowded basement. She felt something crack in her chest. As it limped toward her, she thought back over the last day, and wondered how she could have been so stupid as to trust this vile creature.

    Tracy raced down the stairs from her bedroom, barely able to contain her excitement. It was her 15th birthday. Her family had promised that they had a big surprise for her, and she had been begging them to tell her what it was for weeks. All attempts at it had failed, so she had given up to wait. And to day was the day! Her father would be arriving any moment with her big surprise, and then she and her friends would spend the day opening presents and eating cake.

    She heard the front door open and ran to see who it was. When she reached the door, however, she stopped in her track, let out a gigantic shriek of joy, and leapt at the person who had walked through the door with her father. I was her aunt Daisy! She hardly ever saw her aunt, as Daisy traveled the world, writing stories for the paper at which she worked. Her aunt said it was a very interesting job, and she always brought wonderful trinkets home for them to enjoy. Letting her aunt go, she quickly exclaimed, “Auntie Daisy! Its you! What have you brought me? Tell me, Please?” At which her aunt laughed and replied “Well, I was going to save it for when your friends came over, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to give it to you now.” And out of her bag she pulled a little gray puppy, which she promptly handed over to Tracy. The puppy looked up at her, and she noticed it had the strangest purple eyes, and even stranger, it had two tails! “It’s a Trunt Hound, a very special dog found only in the Himalayan Mountains. The people in the area where his breed are found are very protective of them.” Tracy thanked her aunt, and quickly ran up her stairs to introduce her pet to its new home.

    “I’ve named it Ark.” Tracy told her three friends, Amy, Jess, and Chelsea, as they walked up the stairs to see her new puppy. Entering the room, she went to the box in the corner, which was to be Ark’s bed. But Ark was not there! “Where is he?” asked Chelsea, confused. “I left him right here. He must have climbed out somehow!” exclaimed Tracy, as she crawled around her room, searching under her desk and bed. Tracy ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, looking everywhere for her mother. But she could not find her either!! She went to the fridge, hoping to find a note. There was a note, but not from her mother. It said: “Gone to visit with Aunt Daisy, be home for supper. Dad”. “Oh! Where could my mother be?! And where’s Ark!” She ran back upstairs. “Jess! Amy! Chel- where’s Chelsea?!” she asked, becoming very worried. “We thought she was with you!” whimpered Amy “Tracy, what’s going on! First your dog, and now Chelsea?” “My mom’s missing too,” whispered Tracy, “and my dad went to visit friends with Aunt Daisy.” Suddenly, they heard a crash from downstairs. “That must be my mom” Tracy sighed. “Why don’t you two go downstairs and ask her where Ark is. She probably knows where Chelsea went, too. I’ll stay here and look for Ark some more.” Jess quickly nodded, and she and Amy left the room. About one minute later, she hear Amy screaming at the top of her lungs. Just as suddenly, the scream was cut off, and Jess started to scream instead. Tracy jumped to her feet and raced downstairs. When she got to the kitchen she saw the most grotesque creature. It had blood all over its doglike face, with a maw full of sharp teeth, and two deep purple eyes stared out at her from under hairy brows. It had a shaggy mane going down its back, which ended in two bristly tails. Its hands, like its whole body, was covered in course fur, and its fingers ended in sharpened claws, and so did its toes as well. The…Thing had Jess pinned to a counter, and Amy lay at its feet, torn so that she was barely recognizable. Before she could move, the monster quickly tore out Jess’s throat, and started to come for her.

    And that was how she had ended up in this situation. Running for the basement had definitely not been the best thing to do. On the way down, she had managed to stab its leg with a knife from the kitchen. But that had been all she could do. It was too strong. And as the foul, repugnant creature reached down to tear her heart out, all she could think of was, “some birthday.”