The Ypsilanti Horror

You've seen this movie before, friends.

In the beginning, life only feels slightly unusual. In fact, the winter wonderland outside of the apartment seems to be exactly that--a world rife with magic potential. Snow means Santa and extravagant New Year's resolutions.

Lovely, isn't it?

But then the roads are slick, aren't they? And the car is frozen in place, which means you and your friend--moderately attractive young people--are trapped in the apartment for night after winter night.

You don't mind, though. You have television to watch, and you have a new (to you) Led Zeppelin CD to rip onto your computer. You are sure and cynical. There is nothing that can hurt you lurking in the snow... and certainly nothing in the house, right?

You've seen this movie before, but you still say, "It's nothing," when you hear scratching behind the walls of the apartment. It's late. You're already in bed--vulnerable in the thin fabric of your pajamas. Your shoes are under the bed. The scratching continues. It startles your friend out of sleep, and he also says it's nothing, even though he's seen this movie more times than you have. The scratching grows more desperate, perhaps even vicious. You and your friend move into the next room.

The next day, a hole appears in the ceiling. The hole gasps. The hole makes spitting sounds. It drools brown water.

You are reluctant to call it "nothing" now. You wait for nightfall. You wonder what the scratching will become tonight, when you are trapped in the apartment. You consider sleeping in your shoes. And you wonder how long it will take you and your friend to shove the car out of the ice when It (that which is not "nothing") comes for you...