The shed monster

Sally discovered the monster in the shed. She was looking for the cat and she discovered its bones, white as fresh snow. She heard a chewing and burping sound, and when she peeked in, she saw it. It was hairy, and just looked like a round ball of fur. She ran home to tell Joe about it, and the rest of the gang. The next night they came down again. Joe bought a piece of meat he stole from the refrigerator, and threw it into the shed. They heard the creature chomping at the meat eagerly.

They hatched a plan. The gang were the rejected ones in school. Greg, who stuttered every third word. Lisa, whose dad had run off with another woman when she was three. The popular kids made fun of them. Sally lured Clarissa, the most popular girl, down to the shed.

"Go in," said Sally. "There's something interesting in there."

"Why?" said Clarissa.

"It's... a beautiful statue."

"You dragged me all the way down here to look at a statue? Why am I hanging with a creep like you?" said Clarissa. And she walked off.

But Joe was near. He rushed up to Clarissa and hit her in the head. Sally screamed. Joe then dragged Clarissa to the shed, shoved her in, and closed the door. She came to inside, and yelled to be let out. Then she started to scream, and Sally ran away.

There were lots of questions about Clarissa's disappearance the next day. Joe told Hank, the star athlete he had seen her in a field. Hank followed Joe that night, and Joe told him he was in the shed. Joe closed the door behind Hank, and smoked a cigarette as he listened to the screams.

The others in the gang started to use the shed to get rid of more and more of those folks they weren't happy with, but Sally stayed away. The police were getting increasingly frustrated with the strange disappearances, and Sally wanted to report the gang to the police. But Joe watched her house, and followed her wherever she went. The monster was the best thing to ever happen to him, and he wasn't going to let it stop.

One day Sally slipped away. She found Greg there with his grandmother. "Stop it!" yelled Sally. "Don't go into the shed!"

Greg was angry and threw stones at her. Sally continued to shout. "You all are terrible!"

Joe was behind and he grabbed her. "Open the door Greg!" he shouted. Greg's grandmother had already gone off.

Sally couldn't resist. She was being pushed to the shed, and she was not going to overpower Joe. She screamed, and remembered how Clarissa had done the same. Greg opened the door, and Joe shoved her in. The door was closed behind her. The ground inside the shed was sticky with blood. It smelt like cat pee and worse. She closed her eyes and waited for the monster. It was coming closer. She could smell its thick fur.

She put her hands over her ears. And she stopped screaming. The creature looked at her curiously. She was not afraid. She did not want to give Joe or Greg the satisfaction of hearing her die.

"Eat me," she said to the beast, and realised what sad eyes it had. The creature, however, did not. It looked at her strangely. It shook its head and went back to its corner. Sally wondered why. She kept silent.

"Is she dead?" she heard Greg say.

"Probably," said Joe. "We need to get your grandmother. She'll tell what we did," he said.

Sally waited. The creature did not move much. A lone toad came into the shed, and started to croak. The creature leapt on it and gulped it down. Sally realised what it was; the monster hated noise. It had eaten those people it did because of their screams. Sally swore she would never scream.

A few hours later, she heard footsteps outside. Joe and Greg were coming back. The door opened, and Sally leapt right out even before they could push Greg's grandmother in. Sally picked up a stone and threw it at Joe, making him scream. In the confusion, Greg just clung on to his grandma. He screamed "Get her! Get her!" He didn't see the large creature stumbling out of the shed. Joe screamed when he saw the great mouth closing over George. Sally grabbed Greg's grandma and motioned her to shush. The creature turned to Joe, who was running, and screaming, shouting at Sally to help him. It loped towards Joe with a chimpanzee-like gait. Joe screamed as he fell down, and as he turned, the great mouth of the beast devoured him. Sally clasped her hand over her mouth so that she would not scream.

When she lifted herself and Greg's grandma from the grass, there was no sign of the creature; only the devoured remains of the two boys. Carrying Greg's grandmother carefully, they walked back slowly, quietly towards the town.