The narrator lives alone since his wife passed away and has been hearing strange noises in his home. The noises have been occurring more frequently and disturb him throughout the day. During his latest encounter, he sees something moving under the rug in his living room. Fed up with the constant disturbances, he bludgeons the object under the rug to death with a chair and discovers it was a baby raccoon trapped inside. He buries the raccoon, and the noises finally stop haunting him.

1. Under The Rug

2. Two Weeks Past and It Happened Again!
I woke up one morning and started to do my morning routine. I was in the process of
brushing my teeth and I heard a sound in the living room. I thought it was my son, Aaron, and
my grandson, Michael, because they were coming to visit later that day. I went out to the living
room and did not see anyone and did not hear anything anymore; so I went back to my room and
continued getting ready for my day with my family. I really wish my whole family would come
and visit with me at my home in Saint Paul, Minnesota, but the only ones that can make it was
my son, Aaron, and my only grandson, Michael. I also have a daughter, Amber, who lives in Las
Vegas and is a show girl for the Bellagio hotel and casino. I have another son, Matthew, and he
lives in New York as a stock broker for a big insurance company. My wife of 42 years passed
away last fall from a battle against cancer. Now, I live alone and get very lonely, and cherish the
time I get to spend with my family.
There have been very strange noises happening more often after my wife passed away. I
hear the noises and run to where they occurred and there is nothing there and the noise stops.
Sometimes I think it’s my wife, but I know that it could not be her and that I must be going crazy
without her by my side. These strange sounds continue to interrupt my daily life and I feel like
everywhere I go something is watching me.
The last time this noise happened, I was asleep and was startled awake because I heard
the door open to the living room. I rushed into the living to see who it was and there was nothing
there again. I felt like I was not alone in the room and that something was watching me. I went

3. back to my room and there were no more noises. These occurrences seem to happen every other
week.
Since I was lost in thought, I came back to reality when I heard the doorbell ring. It was
Aaron and Michael arriving to visit me. I was so excited and forgot all about the noises. I gave
them both big hugs and we visited for a while. It was so nice to see my family and to play with
Michael. I made them a big dinner, so we sat down and started to eat. The night went by so
quickly, and I was sad to see them go. I knew Michael had to go because he had school the next
day and Aaron had to work the late shift at his job. After they left, I was all alone, again. I went
to the kitchen to clean up the dishes and then went to bed.
Two weeks went by, and I finally thought that whatever had been disturbing me the past
few months has finally went away. Then I was in the living room reading the paper and I had a
feeling that I was not alone. The lights flickered and there was a cool breeze that went through
the house. At that point, I knew that there was something or someone with me in the house. I
walked around and did not see anything or hear anything. I yelled “Hey, who’s there”, but there
was no response. I was so stressed out and didn’t know what was happening, so I sat back down
in my rocking chair trying to calm down.
I went back to reading the paper, but the event that just happened was on my mind and I
could not read. Then I saw something move, and there was something under the rug. It was too
small to be a cat or dog, but too big to be an insect. I was fed up with not knowing what this
thing that has been a current annoyance in my life for the past few months. I did not care what it
was, but I knew it was going to die today. I ran into the dining room and grabbed one of the
chairs at the table to exterminate the object. I stealthily walked back into the living room to
deliver the finishing blow. I stood over the object as it squirmed around. I reared back with the

4. chair in hand and then; SPLAT! Blood went everywhere. I furiously continued to smash the
thing under the rug until I knew that there was no chance of it surviving. I picked up the rug to
see what was underneath and there laid a dead, baby raccoon. The baby raccoon got trapped
inside the house and could not get back out. He was probably all alone and was looking for his
family. I felt bad for killing it, so I decided to give it a proper burial. Then everything in the
house went back to normal and I was finally at peace.