There was something in Josie’s room.

It was approximately the size of a large dog, with the teeth of a shark and claws like razors. They knew it was hungry today, because it was currently sifting through the piles of newspapers and empty juice cups by their bed.

It had been in Josie’s life ever since they were a very young child. They had moved from home to home, praying that one day they would outpace whatever the thing was, but it followed them at every turn. From childhood birthday parties, to prom, to high school graduation, dance recitals and more, the thing was in every photo, professional or candid. It always had its eyes locked on them.

Nobody ever commented on it, for which they were thankful. At the most, people would ask why they looked so worried or panicked in every photo, to which they would answer: “I don’t know what you are talking about.” That would be the end of the conversation, and everyone would move on. It was a black hole of thoughts; it took time away and created nothing in return.

They were reasonably certain at this point that it was some sort of dromaeosaurid, the family of theropod dinosaurs that also includes the famous Velociraptor, but it was too big to be one of those and too small to be Utahraptor. They knew they could tell nobody about this, because dinosaurs died a long time ago, but this one was agonizingly alive and it was eating all of their lunch.

There was something in Josie’s room, and the only thing they could do was cower under the covers until it went away.