Under The Rug

• Isabelle Walker, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2011

Rattle, rattle, rattle. I was sitting in my big blue comfy arm chair when the house started shaking. I jumped up in horror and looked around. A drop of sweat rolled down my face ‘Another earthquake!’ I sighed to myself. There had been many earthquakes in Wyaville lately, and two weeks ago everyone was asked to evacuate their houses, but I wasn’t going to budge. I am getting old and I have become very attached to my cozy little cottage. I am beginning to regret declining the policeman’s request for me to go with everyone else to the evacuation centre though, because I get quite lonely and scared by myself. Even though I have my cat, Mog, it’s not the same. I miss Eliza. We got married when we were very young and she died 10 years ago.

I started running around the house with my arms in the air, not knowing what to do. Then BANG! A gust of wind whizzed through the window and the table fell down, followed by the paintings on the wall. I turned around to see what was happening and that’s when I saw it… a little bump under the rug. It was too big to just be air and it was too small to be a piece of furniture. A shiver ran down my spine. ‘A wild creature’ I thought to myself.

I looked around and grabbed the first thing I saw- a chair. Angry and afraid, I flung it in the air, then thrust it down on the wild creature. A meow so loud, you could hear from space came out from under the rug. That’s when it hit me… that was no ‘wild creature’ it was my cat, Mog.

She jumped up and ran around the house as fast as lightning, failing to dodge all the furniture in her way. As she crashed into the lamp, coat rack, and umbrella stand they came falling down almost right on top of her but she did not stop running. I chased after her and just when I was about to fall down and collapse she stopped at the foot of my bed and quickly slid under. This was her favourite place to hide.

“Mog” I called, “come out.” After a few seconds a small wet nose peeked out from under the bed. It sniffed around for a while, and then slowly and carefully she crept out into the light of the room. I lifted her up and cradled her in my arms. “Everything is going to be ok” I whispered to her. And it was.

By Isabelle Walker