Chapter 19

The Creatures Emerge

It was evening, one week later. My sister Mary was sitting in the garden. She was making a piece of cloth. I was walking back and forth on the garden path, reading a book. My gun was against the house wall near me. Since the strange animal had appeared in our gardens, I thought it was good to keep my gun close. But for the whole week, nothing strange had happened. I could now think about those days without feeling too afraid.

As I was reading and walking, I suddenly heard a large noise coming from the direction of the hole. It sounded like many heavy rocks falling. I looked up quickly and saw a large amount of grey dirt rising into the evening air. My sister jumped up from her chair, looking surprised and afraid. “Stay here, Mary!” I said in a strong voice. I grabbed my gun and ran toward the hole.

As I got closer, I heard a deep noise that grew with each step. It sounded like the earth itself was moving. More grey dirt was rising up from the hole, making the air difficult to breathe. The deep noise suddenly stopped, but the grey air was still growing.

When I reached the edge of the hole, I tried to look down. I could not see anything because of the dirt in the air. It got into my eyes and made me cough. I had to step back from the edge. For several minutes, I waited as the air became clear. I was not sure what had happened. Perhaps part of the wall had fallen, but why?

I remembered the falling rocks from before and the animal we had seen. The two things seemed related, but I did not understand how. When the air began to clear, I carefully went near the edge again to look down. At first, I still could not see well. Then I noticed movement below. I looked harder and could see three shapes climbing up the side of the hole.

Suddenly, I heard stones falling to my right. I turned my head but saw nothing. When I looked back and leaned over the edge, I was looking directly at a white face just a few feet below me. It had small eyes and a long nose. Behind this animal, I could see more white faces climbing up.

When the animal saw me, it made a large, angry sound. The others below it answered with sounds like it. My heart beat fast with fear. Without thinking, I raised my gun and fired directly at the animal’s face. The large sound went all around the hole. The animal fell back with a cry, falling with the dirt and stones. I stepped back from the edge, my hands shaking. The animals in the hole were trying to get out—and there were more of them than I had thought.