Somewhere within a desert there stood a wall made of stones stacked upon each other. This wall stood next to human dwellings, and within this wall there lived many small, cozy homes for mice, bugs, and other various small creatures of the Mojave. One in particular was a small two bedroom home of the Ruby family in which consisted of Sofia and her two children, Elliot and Davy. This was a nice and warm day, the gentle sunlight breaching the kitchen nook where Sofia sat, napping with her head up high as her children played outside.

Tap Tap Tap

A gentle knock awoke Sofia from a decent nap.

Tap tap tap

That annoying sound found the attention of the little desert mouse as she arose from her seat in the kitchen nook with some tea in hand now cold, whipping her tail to her side on the way to the front door. She was not expecting any company today and genuinely did not want any.

She saw who it was through the eye hole of the door which caused her to bite her cheek. She took a deep breath and opened the door; "Good morning, Ms. Heartfield", she greeted the elder mouse at the door.

"It's the afternoon", the gray-haired guest replied, "but I'll make this brief". These were the best words Sofia ever heard from Ms. Heartfield since she met her.

"And what pleasure do I owe?" Sofia asked.

"Mrs. Ruby are you not aware your boys are at the creek?"

"The creek?" She pondered, "It's a dry place these days, can't be concerned with them drowning now, can I?"

The creek used to be source of water before the well in Sofia's neighborhood, but after the humans built a dam the creek dried up and now remains as the mental image when you hear the word 'desert'.

"Yes, and they are there alone", Ms. Heartfield continued, fiddling with her decorative shawl, "I just came by to tell you that your little ones are playing by the creek".

"Sometimes they like to play by the creek", Sofia replied, but she was interrupted before she could continue.

"They shouldn't be there at this hour, I know you're struggling right now with your husband leaving and all", Ms. Heartfield continued to explain, "the sun is going down, it's not safe by themselves in such wild land".

"Point taken, I'll see to it they'll be back before supper", Sofia said, wanting this conversation to end.

"Please do, I can't emphasis enough the dangers out there after dark", she told Sofia, "now excuse me but I have some affairs I must be getting to". And so Ms. Heartfield left as quickly as she arrived.

Sofia was left annoyed but with a deep sigh she put up her apron, grabbed her scarf, and she was out the door. It wasn't the time of year for snakes to be active, but the owls will be once the sun goes down. It wasn't uncommon for mice to go to the old creek, but it's highly recommended none go so late.

Fortunately for Sofia and her two boys she made it to the creek just right when the view of the sun touched behind the mountain tops. The still warm sand slowed her scurrying movements but also silenced them. She's been here before with her family so she figures the boys would be around the same area they once picnicked at.

She made it to an area where large quartz rock were common and a large, bald tree toward over everything. Along the dried creek laid a path of grooves in the sand made by the water from the previous wet season, large shrubs covered the view of the other side. This was nostalgic for Sofia but she knew she couldn't wait around to take it all in as the shadows of the mountains continued to cross her own.

From passed the shrubbery she could hear the familiar sounds of laughter. "Elliot! Davy!" She shouted their names, and within seconds they crept out from behind one of the shrubs knowing very well what that tone from their mother means.

"Hey, mom", said Elliot, the older of the two, "what's up?"

"Oh my blood pressure is what's up", replied Sofia, "I get a visit from our beloved neighbor, Ms. Heartfield-"

"Oh you hate her", interrupted Elliot.

"That's a strong word but yes", she continued while gritting her teeth, "and she disturbed me from a pleasant nap only to tell me you two were in the wonderful wild that is the creek-"

"It's dry though", interrupted Davy, "we just wanted to play in the sand".

"That doesn't matter when the sun is going down, do you want owls to eat you?"

"No", said Davy while looking down in shame.

"I just…" Sofia stopped herself from getting angrier. Her children were okay and that's all that mattered now. "I don't mean to scare you, let's just leave before it gets dark".

As the sunlight began to vanish Sofia and her children made their way on the path homeward, Davy holding onto Elliot's tail ever so tightly. This often bothered the older brother but he knew Davy only did that when he was scared. This pondered in his mind for a moment. "Easy, Davy", he told his younger brother. He would loosen his grip but still held on. Elliot looked at him and noticed he was looking back.

"You alright?" asked Elliot, slowing down for Davy.

"I thought I saw someone", he replied.

"Another mouse?" He asked Davy, but his little brother shrugged. This as an answer made any concern leave his mind.

By the moment they stepped through the door frame of their home the stars were already starting to appear into the night's void. As much as the brothers loved to look up at them they decided to stay inside this time. Davy was particularly excited to get inside.

"Go wash up for supper", said Sofia as she pushed up a switch in the darkness. Their home lit up from a string of small lights that lined the upper part of the wall leading from the door to the sitting room. They were nice and bright from the fresh battery she was able to get her hands on.

Elliot took his brother to the bathroom to wash up and Sofia went into the kitchen nook to prepare some vegetables. It was too late to start a stew, but with some leftover bread she could at least make something nutritious for her family. For a moment Sofia thought she saw a light peak through the glass piece they used as a window. She waited to see if someone with a lantern was coming by, but nothing came of it so she went back to lighting the hearth.

The boys took care of some chores while waiting for dinner, Davy waiting besides Elliot as the older brother used a feather cleaner for dusting. Davy was his little helper, holding onto any pieces of trash they didn't throw out yesterday. Davy took the scraps of trash to the front door to take out later. Not much time passed before they were called into the nook and were greeted by a warm meal.

After happily finishing off their meal the brothers went back to the bathroom to clean their hands and faces and get ready for dinner. Sofia was cleaning up their aftermath."Hey, Davy, come take this trash, please?" She said nearly tripping over it on her way passed entrance.

"Sorry mom", he replied. He then would make his way to do so, Sofia holding the door open for him. He quickly threw the scraps into the bin in the front and when he went to turn back inside something caught his eye. He saw the prominent outline of another mouse just down the path of the wall. His first thought was that it was one of his neighbors, but the outline didn't seem to stay in a single solid shape. A feeling of dread began to creep up his neck causing his hair to stand on end.

"Sweetheart?" asked Sofia before nearly being ran over by the gray blur that is her son.

"Door! Door!" He shouts. Sofia had never seen him so afraid, this shook her to her core as she slammed the door shut.

Sofia locked the door with a metal hook connected to the wall of her home. As she stepped back for a second to absorb the event that just took place she felt a strong chill emanate from the door and frame. Elliot came running out of his and Davy's room after the commotion to see his mom zoning out at the door and Davy hiding behind some cushions. "What's going on?" he asked their mom.

"Monster! Mmm..m...monster!" Davy was barely getting those words out while visibly shaking.

"Hey", Elliot scurried over to his little brother to comfort him, "come on now I'm here, let's take a breather. Hey mom, what's going on?" Sofia slowly backed away from the door.

Tap tap tap

The knock was nothing like earlier today, this shook the door with every touch.

Tap tap tap

This time harder. It was as if the being on the other side of the door was trying to make its presence known by the Ruby family. It demanded their attention.

"Who...Who's there!?" Shouted Sofia, stammering on her question. There remained a silence in the air just for a moment, but for the Ruby family the passage of time couldn't have gone any slower.

"Please", said a suspiciously familiar voice on the other side of the door, "please open the door, I'm cold".

Elliot looked over to Davy. The voice sounded like his younger brother, but it seemed a bit off to them. The voice gave off a raspy sound that fell behind it's own annunciations, a whispering temper that would make even autumn shiver.

Sofia found herself starting to shiver, it was too cold by the door. She quickly made her way to her children and held them close to herself. Elliot saw her fear in those very eyes of his mother but also a twinge of anger. Anger from seeing her own kids in a panic. She wanted so badly to shout at the door for the thing behind it to go away, but she bit her tongue, hoping to bore the thing away.

"Please open the door", it continued, "I just want to come in. Please...please...please". The voice began to get deeper and scratching could be heard as it begged.

"Why aren't you letting me in? Don't you care about me?" The voice was now deeper than before, yet still familiar to Sofia. She felt her heart sink when she realized who that thing was beginning to mimic.

"Honey, don't you love me?" It now sounded like Gregory, Sofia's husband. She knew very well that wasn't him, he left them some seasons ago, vowing never to return. Part of her wanted to believe it was him, but she breathed in deeply to think about it just a bit more.

Sofia nudged at the children and pointed to her room, they immediately obeyed and quietly made their way over. Elliot grabbed his mother's blanket and wrapped Davy in it to keep him warm, hoping he would feel calmer snuggled in the warm cloth. Elliot himself sat by his brother on the bed, and while he felt scared he wanted to have faith in his mother for now.

Sofia walked to the nook. With the fire from the hearth getting smaller she fed the flames some wood pieces for stave off the chills. She thought she could perhaps bore the guest away, but this wasn't working. She heard faint words coming from the glass piece window, but she couldn't quite make it out. She could however start to make out a shape on the other side, it almost looked like her husband indeed, but his overall appearance was seemed off-putting. She couldn't quite make the reason in her mind but she knew this was not her husband.

Whatever the thing pretending to be her husband could be it was looking directly at Sofia. The fear that traveled up her spine made it impossible to look away, but she noticed its mouth was moving. It was perhaps trying to say something but no sound was escaping its lips. This caused to Sofia to stand in her place, frozen in fear as a feeling of dread and despair began to take over her nerves.

Whatever this thing was it started to do something else as Sofia could do nothing more than watch in abject horror. The outline was the physical shape of the creature began to warp and sway like water. Before Sofia could take a breath the thing lifted itself from behind with what looked like an arm. "No", she thought to herself, "that's a tail". The creature took a new shape, it's head now much larger was the part of it that could be seen by the light of the hearth. It was now a serpent, its eyes peering at Sofia like knives, a fork tongue shaking itself in the air. From the shape of the head it appeared now as a rattlesnake.

"Mommy, please open the door", that serpent said, "it's so cold outside".

Sofia's heart was pounding in her chest, her body shaking and cold despite standing by an open flame. She wanted nothing more than to run now, but her feet were seemingly made of lead. She continued to stare at the serpent but she noticed it was beginning to move its head. It moved it back to the shadows and for a moment Sofia could breathe again as it broke its gaze. She caught herself, now seeing what it was now doing, she dug for the strength within herself to move once again. Through her life experiences she knew what the serpent was doing, it was getting ready to strike, and for what felt like minutes was only a few seconds before it struck the glass.

It was like lightening. The serpent's mouth was open with fangs in full view as it collided with the glass window. The entire room shook from the force, Sofia lost her footing and fell back against the hearth. Dishes and cutlery found their way to the floor causing a sound which alerted the boys. Sofia struggled to get back to her feet but not in time to do so as the rattler prepared itself again.

Elliot ran to the kitchen nook by the time the serpent struck for the second time, and now the inner parts of the wall were coming undone. Elliot ran over to his mom, helping her up he saw what that thing had become. He gasped at the sight of the snake, his fear being brought to life before his very eyes, but he knew he couldn't absorb the thought for another second. He pulled his mom towards the sitting room and as they left the nook it became quiet again.

Sofia was able to regain her footing in the sitting room, she almost slapped Elliot for putting himself in danger, but she also grew proud for his bravery and hugged him. "Yeah thank you, but come on", he said. They ran over to the room in which Davy waited patiently under a blanket.

"Mom!" Davy sprang up from the covers and threw himself into Sofia's arms. Elliot closed the door behind himself.

"Mom", Davy continued, "I'm sorry...I…I think it followed me home".

"Sweet-bean", Sofia began to respond, wiping his tears away, "it cannot possibly be your fault".

"It is though", he continued, "I opened it, I saw it follow me and I lead it home".

"I'm sure there's more to it than that, and besides it still wouldn't be your fault for what its doing". Sofia assured him, but she noticed Elliot looking down, eyes wide open. "Elliot?"

"I...think I know how it happened", Elliot began to say, "I thought Davy was just fooling around, but I think he was right".

"What were you doing out there?" Sofia previously believed they were just being kids and playing where they shouldn't.

Elliot sat on the bed next to them, he turned to face Sofia and began speaking again. "That morning after we went out for a walk, Davy ran off towards the creek, saying there was someone screaming".

"Screaming?" She asked while looking down at Davy, his fact nested in her fur.

"Yeah, but I couldn't hear anything", Elliot continued saying the events, "when I found him again he was trying to open this box. It was almost as big as he was, and rope was tightly wrapped around it. I didn't believe there was someone inside, but I didn't want to ignore his plea for my help so I bit into it to unwrap the box". He hesitated for a moment, they began to hear more knocking on the front door.

"It was easy to open but when we opened it there was nothing inside it. Davy said there was someone in it, another mouse, but I thought he had another imaginary friend".

"What happened to the friend?" asked Sofia.

"I guess it ran, Davy looked towards the bushes and it moved. I thought an animal caught his attention, but Davy walked towards it. He was starting to freak me out".

"Why were you giggling then?"

"We weren't", said Davy, "when it ran into the bushes it started looking at me and laughing at me".

"It was laughing?"

"I don't know why but it started looking like me".

Sofia's heart felt like it was in her throat. She was there next to the bushes so close to it. It followed them home, but she couldn't quite figure out why or what it could possibly want. "It's still not your fault", she assured Davy, "but still, if it wanted to get in I'm not sure what it wants".

"Monsters eat us", replied Davy.

There was a large slam at the door, it was still trying to get in. Sofia was starting to have enough, she wanted this to end. She picked Davy up and placed him back on the bed, he could see her breathing starting to get more rapid. Sofia was trying her best not to break, but she couldn't let this happen right now. She walked out of the room and back towards the front door. Elliot looked at her in surprise, but he stayed by Davy, holding his hand to keep him from running back to her. "Please don't", Elliot said.

"I won't".

As she stood just inches from the door, she took in a deep breath, her legs still shaking in the process. She gripped her scarf firmly, looking at the lock, she has never been more proud of her handy work with it. "What are you?" She demanded answers. For a moment there was silence, but she heard a slow exhale from the other side of the frame.

"Sweetheart, don't you recognize-" it tried to repeat that voice again.

"Cut that crap out!" Sofia shouted at it.

"Figures it would stop working eventually", the thing said in a completely different now, "whatever".

"Answer me", she demanded again, a shaking could be heard in her voice.

"Ah, but what would be the point of telling you? I am not a person so don't worry yourself with proper etiquette," whatever this creature was its voice was deep and had a gentle sound it.

"What do you want?"

"You're very courageous, but why not start with introduction, Sofia?" it knew her name, and it knew her husband as well. "I don't really have a name, I tried going along with one but language changes so often you creatures lose the ability to understand me".

"How do you know me?"

"I can see your mind, just a quick peek into the eyes of others and I can see everything".

"What do you want?"

"Getting ahead aren't we?"

"Are you just trying to scare us? Eat us?"

"I don't know yet, but you're fun and I don't want this to end just yet".

"Please", Sofia was tired, she was almost brought to tears by this answer, "just leave us alone".

She had her knees to the floor, trying to push her fear back into her mind, but it was starting to drown her. This thing was just playing them, and it could end their lives at any moment. Her children are not safe and that broke her far faster than the fear of herself dying. She then heard the thing start giggling, but not like the childish kind she heard earlier that day.

"I can see your fears, it's only normal to fear the fate all living things have", it said. "You can never change it, it's a force of nature even greater than I".

"Please, just leave us", she was starting to beg, her tears running down her whiskers.

"I'll consider it, but how about we make this more interesting?"

"Please…"

"Now now, let me finish my sentence. I want to keep having fun with you".

"Just leave my kids alone, I'll do whatever you want".

"And where's the fun in that? You parents are always trying to protect your kids, well most of you anyways. You good parents I should say, are a real treat".

Sofia was gripping at the door frame. She was no longer cold, she was tired now. It could break into her home at any point, it just wanted to play with them. The thing was scratching at the wood of the door. Sofia felt numb, no fear, no more tears, she just wanted to be with her kids.

Sofia opened the door to her room, her kids shaking under the blanket. She sat down onto the bed and pulled her boys into her, holding them close. Elliot wanted to say something, but he heard a crash from the sitting room. The front door was seen flung towards the wall. It was inside.

Davy was crying into his mother's fur, Elliot ran to the door of the room and closed it. "Come back here", Sofia told him, her voice calm. This was upsetting to Elliot, but he did what he was told. I wondered as he laid his head on his mother's shoulder whether or not she had given up. Elliot sat there cold, they only had moments before that shape-shifting monster broke in and it would be all over.

They heard a crack coming from the front, the door was now in pieces in the sitting room. The footsteps began there way up into the home, changing beats as it changed form once more. It knew where they were, its shadow breaching from under the door. "Stay close to me", Sofia continued to have a tight grip on her boys, her voice as calm as ever. For them the shaking never ceased.

Tap tap tap

Sofia let out a little chuckle as the beast that plagued their evening with dread is continuing its previous patterns. It was silent except for the Ruby family's breathing. "Come one now, open the door", that thing said, "won't you open the door and let a cold soul get warm?" Sofia remained silent, her boys holding in their tears for they were too scared to make a noise. The beast made some scratching sounds, but there was no reaction from the family.

There was a momentary silence before it went back to scratching. Sofia's eyes stayed on the door, the shadow from below it never moving. It stopped scratching but it still wanted inside. Instead of the knob it attempted space from beneath the door, disturbing its own shadow. Sofia could see a gray, slim appendage crawling from the space and raise itself along the wood of the frame. The appendage was long and upon its end it began to form fingers. It moved and swayed ever so gently along the door, its shape not consistent with how it progressed. It was almost too fluid to be real.

Sofia thought it was looking for the handle and lock, but the door could have been easily opened. The hand stopped moving about halfway up the door just barely touching the handle. Elliot was confused by this action, it could just pull the door open now. The hand appeared to have something else on it, an eye with a silver iris staring straight at Sofia. She could tell it was annoyed. "Is this really how it's going to be?" the monster asked, "you chose to be boring during your last moments?"

Sofia continued looking at it, careful to keep her face nonreactive. They were at a standstill but the monster was not getting what it wanted now. "Come on!" It continued, "Do something! Entertain me! DO SOMETHING!" Its hand clawed at the door ever so violently leaving behind deep marks.

The hand shook in the monster's rage, but strangely enough it still wouldn't enter the room. "You're not making this fun anymore", it began to speak again.

"You didn't want to be bored", she said to it.

"I could still kill you, just so we're clear", it responded.

"But you won't, I'm boring now".

"And how do you figure I still won't?"

"I didn't, I just wanted to deny you the satisfaction of dinner and a show since this could be our last night alive".

"Why not try to run? Hide? Have you truly given up?"

"There's no use, I will spend my final moments with my family, so why not get it over with?"

"Will you allow them to die as well?"

"Would you let them live". Her question made him ponder for a moment.

"No", it said, "that would be a waste".

"So what is it? Why must you scare us first?"

"Entertainment. I am the greatest hunter but after living for so long I grew bored".

"And without the entertainment, what good are we as food?"

"You creatures are only good for entertainment and food, once I am fully entertained you make good stew", it said as its hand crept back from under the door. To Sofia this was just another attempt to scare her. She waited for over thirty minutes before getting up and opening the door.

Her home was a mess, the door shattered, walls have claw marks all over them, but there was no sign of that beast. She took in a deep sigh, a sense of relief waved over her bones, her children are safe at least. Elliot hesitantly walked out of the room, looking every which way for the creature. Davy decided to fall asleep in their mother's bed, which Sofia expects to be the case for a while now.

There will be some time before the home is fully repaired, but they were alive, and that was the only thing that mattered for the Ruby family. The fact that the monster was never seen again by these mice has not stopped them from looking over their shoulders. Elliot and Davy never went to the creek ever again, they would never walk outside after sundown, and even Sofia would rarely venture too far out anymore without feeling a great sense of dread.