Pig in a Blanket

Someone was knocking at the door. Not an urgent pounding knock, but methodical, with a purpose. After a succession of three distinct patterns, the knocking ceased momentarily.

I sat there in the corner and stared at the door for a moment, curious of both who could be on the other side, trying to attain entry, and also why I hadn't noticed the door in the first place. Regardless, my moment of inquisition was short lived, as the knocking resumed with the same structured rhythm.

And again, after three patterns it ceased.

"Who is it," I inquired, "what do you want?"

There was no answer from the other side of the door, at least as far as words go. Rather, the knocking once again resumed, this time at a quicker pace, more urgent, more demanding. And then it stopped again.

My heart was pounding in my chest. Who could be out there? What do they want from me? How did they know I was here when I didn't know where here was?

"Hello," I said, almost hoping that there would be no answer from the mysterious knocker. Instead, the knocking resumed, this time rattling the door with their urgency. And as before, once they completed their pattern, they terminated, punctuated by a thundering boom on the last note.

I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't sit there wondering what fate held on the other side of that door, nor could I resign myself to it. I climbed up onto my knees and crawled slowly to the door and sat back down with my back to it. I sat there and waited, waited for the knocking again.

It didn't come.

I took a deep breath and turned my head toward the keyhole, determined to make sure that there was no one there. I peered into the keyhole, but instead of seeing empty space, I stared directly into an eye, looking right back at me. It captivated me and held me there. And then the voice came.

"Little pig, little pig," it whispered, "let me in".

I flew across the room and tumbled into the corner, terrified by what was on the other side of that suddenly thin door.

"What do you want with me?" I screamed through at my now unnamed nightmare.

It answered by pounding the rhythm out on the door. And then the voice came again, "little pig, little pig, let me in!" it growled, echoing across the room to me.

"Go away," I bellowed back, "leave me alone!"

The door shook in its frame as the thing on the other side started thrusting itself against the door to the rhythm.

On the first crushing blow, it cried, "THEN I"LL HUFF!"

I looked frantically around the empty room for a place to hide.

"AND I'LL PUFF!"

There was nowhere to go. I shook in fear. "PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE," I pleaded one final time.

"AND I"LL BLOW YOUR HOUSE IN!"

And with this last statement, the door flew open and I screamed in absolute fear!

"For Christ sakes Jenkins, what are you doing to this one?" the first orderly said to the second.

"You know I love screwing with these nutjobs," Jenkins replied to the other as he left and shut the door behind him, "sometimes it's the only way I get through the nights in this hellhole."

I ran to the door and watched them walk away. When I heard the door down the hall shut, I curled up on the floor, rocking back and forth, crying.

And then there was a whisper under the door, "little pig, little pig...."