Amoeba

He had earned an ‘A’ in science because of what he now deemed his pet. Not much bigger than a pinhead when taken from the pond, the amoeba had grown to nearly an inch and was in need of a new jar.

Unfortunately for Ryan Brown, he found the jar a little too late as he came home to find the one with his pet in it busted and empty. He searched the floor of the closet where he had the organism, but could find nothing other than a puddle of dirty water.

It was later, after school had let out for the summer that Ryan began hearing odd sounds coming from the attic above his bed. A dull thump, followed by a dragging sound.

For nearly two-weeks this sound continued. However, when he told his parents of the strange sounds they refused to believe him, insisting it was simply his imagination.

Eventually, he came to believe it was his pet amoeba. It had somehow escaped its jar, but had crawled inside the walls of the house and evolved to the point it no longer needed water.

One afternoon, while everyone was away, the ceiling above his bed caved in. The contractor hired to repair the damage said that the timber had been worn away, as if something had been rubbing itself against the wood.

For the next few months and after school was back in session, Ryan heard tales from his friends about how that neighbor’s cat or this neighbor’s dog went missing. All the while, he slept soundly never hearing another weird noise coming from the attic above his bed.

Then one evening the next door neighbor’s two-month old baby Emma vanished…