My Short Short Story for the Day

“What do you think it is?”  Ted asked running his hand over the smooth surface.

“Not a clue.”  Sam replied shaking his head.  “We can’t leave it here, though.”

“But what if it’s dangerous?”  Ted pulled his hand away checking for any sign of disease.

“I don’t think it is.”  Sam said picking it up.  “We’ll leave it at Ken’s old hut just to be safe.”

“Okay. Let’s get going, then.  It’s a long trek back.”  Ted hefted both packs onto his back. 

They walked in silence too tired from the extra weight to bother with small talk.  Both were lost in speculation about what the mysterious object could be.  The sun scorched the plants and trees overhead but couldn’t quite penetrate to the path below.  They stopped to rest from time to time so as not to overheat.   Just as the sun was finally starting to set, the men broke through the brush entering the clearing that marked the edge of their village.  All was quiet as everyone was preparing their evening meals.  Sam walked up to Ken’s hut and Ted opened the door careful not to pull too hard.  The door squeaked in protest but gave and they walked in. 

“We’ll leave it here tonight and talk to Ken about it in the morning.”  Sam said covering it over with a ratty blanket.

“Okay, see you in the morning.”  Ted said.

Sam shut the door, waved to Ted then headed toward home.  As the silence settled around the hut the blanket rustled.  There was a pause then the blanket moved again, twitched and flew across the room.  Slowly the object unfolded extending its limbs before flipping up its head and revealing a gaping mouth full of sharp fangs and multiple luminous eyes.