Chapter 5 — Something Shifted

I gave the sheet one last mighty pull, and to get the elastic free I had to lift the corner of the mattress up off the frame, and that was when something underneath it moved.

It did not fall, and it did not clatter.

It shifted, sliding perhaps an inch to the left with a low, dull scraping sound, the specific sound of a firm, heavy container being disturbed, of weight relocating itself under the bed.

I can still feel that sound in my body, if I think about it.