Basket Delight

         The wind whistled, the rain poured, and Albert Duncun was lazing comfortably on his leather couch within the confounds of his lily-coloured house. Albert was your Average Joe; a working class citizen. He worked nine-to-five every Monday-to-Saturday at a construction site. Albert (or Al, as his friends called him) was middle aged, slightly overweight and showing signs of balding. Nothing interesting ever happened in this man’s dull life. Not until this very night, that is.

         Al was on the verge of sleep until he heard a rapping at his door. Startled, he almost fell from his couch onto the hardwood floor. With a groan, he dragged himself across the room to his door, clasped the steel door-handle, and pushed it open an inch to avoid getting wet. Al peaked through and stared at his porch. Nothing. He swung the door all the way open (the rain pellets attacking his chest like bullets). Nothing.

         “Stupid kids,” Al said aloud. He blamed the younger generation for everything gone wrong in his life. He gained twenty lbs in a month. Kids did it. His girlfriend of six months left him for a successful twenty-two-year-old art major. Kids did it. He could no longer “get it up” and therefore had never been laid in nearly two years. Kids did it.

         A rattle.

         Albert immediately shut the door and looked behind him after hearing an odd, unfamiliar noise. That’s when he saw it: a large, wooden basket with its lid closed lying on the centre of his dining table. After staring, bewildered, for nearly a minute, Al checked to see what it was, forcing himself to push each leg one-at-a-time. He caressed the handle on the basket; a bell was on the top. At least he knew what caused that noise earlier.

         He heard shuffling from within the basket. A shiver ran through his spine, coldness consumed him. He laid his hand on the lid of the basket, his arm shaking. He knew it was probably some practical joke set up by the local kids, but it still terrified him. Shuffling again. At this point he was tempted to toss the infernal basket into his fire place and watch it burn to a crisp. Albert’s legs were shaking fiercely, causing his floor to creak. Another noise which greatly upset him.

         After building up the courage, Al cautiously lifted the lid on the basket, dumbfounded at what he saw inside: a gray rabbit staring back at him blankly with its marble-sized eyes. Its left ear twitched.

         “Heh, just a cute little rabbit,” gleamed Albert after a sigh of relief.

         Al leaned in to hold the rabbit just as it pounced out of the basket onto the man’s face. Al stepped back in shock and yelled, “Hey, get off damnit!”. The rabbit bit into his nose, blood gushing out, and proceeded to ravish his unprotected face.

         Moments later Albert was dead on the floor, the rabbit burrowed into his hollow skull.

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494 Words