“The Beast That Ate My Brain!“  Millie considered the title, repeating it like a mantra.  She rather liked it.  “Now, I’ve just got to write the rest of the story.“ 

     She jumped, hearing thumping.  Abandoning her lap top on the table, she went to the door, curious.  Visitors were rare this far out of town, one of the reason she used the cabin.  Writing proved an exacting avocation, best conducted far from civilized society. 

     The door creaked open.  A little girl in a pink sun-dress occupied the threshold.  Framed by round glasses, the girls eyes delivered a warm brown stare.  Hands clasped behind her, she stood on one foot, while the other dangled, tapping the porch arhythmically. 

     “Can I…help you?“  Millie’s heart soared.  “Selling Girl Scout cookies?”

     “No, Ma’am.”

     “Too bad.  I was rather hoping…  Never mind.  Are you lost?”

     “No, Ma’am.”

     “So, what do you want?”

     “Do you know there’s a monster out here?”

     That made Millie smile.  She made her voice hushed and grave, getting mock-serious.  “Is it after you?”

     “Yes, Ma’am.”

     “I suppose you want to come in and bother me awhile?”

     “Yes, Ma’am.”

     Millie sighed dramatically, swinging the door wide.  “At least you’re polite.  All right then, come in and tell me about it.”

     The girl marched in and claimed the chair before the lap top.  She studied the screen, head tilted.  “What are you doing?”

     “I’m writing a story.  I’m a writer you know.”

     “Really?” 

     Millie paused.  She thought she detected a note of disbelief in the question.  Deciding that any sarcasm was unintentional, Millie shrugged off offense.  “Yeah.  I haven’t actually got anything published yet, but I have an impressive collection of rejection slips.  Want to see them?” 

     “Maybe later.  What’s this story about, princesses and dragons?  I like dragons.”

     “Not exactly.  It’s about this mutant strain of flu that escapes from a secret laboratory under a junkyard.  It infects this junk yard dog that goes insane and starts killing--”

     “I saw that in a movie once.”

     “--everything in sight.”  Millie was starting to dislike the child.  Perhaps, letting her in had not been a wise move.  “So, you live around here somewhere?”

     “Yes, Ma’am.”

     “Good.  I have a writing schedule to keep.  Maybe you should run on home.”

     “I told you, there’s a monster out there.”

     “I’ll give you a spatula.  If you run into the monster, just smack him on the nose, and he’ll run away.  Monster noses are very sensitive.”

     The girl slid out of the chair and turned to face her.  “Is that true ?”

     “You think I’d lie to you?  Look, I write horror.  That’s who I am, what I do.  I know all about things that go bump in the night and chill the marrow and ignite the heart and cloud the mind.  I do research!”  Millie went to a kitchen drawer and found the utensil.
     A scratching noise distracted her as she went to give it to the child.  “Do you have a dog outside?”

      “Yeah, but he’s been sick lately.”  The little girl offered her a nasty grin.  “I think he has the flu.”

     Millie smiled sourly.  “Yeah, like I’m going to believe my own synopsis."  She went to the door and opened it upon the face of the unknown.  The indigo tissues of nightmare filled the doorframe; a massive beast the color of eventide.  Its sulfur-colored eyes were moon lanterns.  Its over-sized jaws parted, displaying yellow tusks.  A greenish drool spattered the porch, burning the wood, producing an acrid stench.  The beast rumbled, pleased to meet her.

       Millie’s heart nearly burst as a terrible thrill spiraled down her spine.  All rational thought sank into the planks of the floor, vanishing.  She wanted to run but couldn’t move.  There was a blur at the edge of her vision.  The girl had come up to view the monster. 

     Millie felt the girl take the spatula from her hand.  She flicked the beast on its nose.  The monster blinked.  Its eyes watered.  It yelped belatedly, stumbling backwards.  The little girl closed the door.  “Seems you were right,” she said.  “That’s the good news.”

     Suddenly galvanized by a fierce bellow in the front yard, Millie leaped forward to slam the deadbolt in place.  She put her back to the door then and slid to the floor, gasping for breath trying to calm her thundering heart, clutching trembling hands together.

     The little girl’s words finally hit home.  Millie‘s voice was low, packed with dread.  “There’s more bad news?”

     “Sure.”  The girl was unnaturally calm.  “Not only is there a monster outside, but one inside as well.” 

     “Inside?”  Millie craned her neck wildly, scanning the far corners of the cabin.  Her gaze returned to the little girl looking down on her. 

     “Where?“

     “Sometimes, death comes wrapped in small packages.”  Her face cracked like stressed porcelain.  The glasses broke.  The eyes behind them popped out and fell with a THUNK.  They were glass marbles.  The pink dress ripped as multiple limbs speared outward from the girl’s swelling body.  Millie watched in fascinated dismay as the girl’s hair and face shards sloughed off.  The face revealed was covered in sparse blue fuzz.  Her true eyes were sulfur yellow, as was her jagged smile. 

     Another bellow came from outside.  The scratching returned. 

     The inside creature squatted on its haunches; bring its face down to Millie’s level.  “Mother didn’t like that smack I gave her, but it served her right.”  The beast said.  “I told her to keep her paws off you.“

     A small spark of hope flared in Millie.  The small beast was looking out for her.

     “I’m afraid there’s more bad news,” the creature said.  “I’m done with my larval state, that makes me very hungry and…”

     “And what?” Millie asked.

     “I’m fond of brain food.  Human brain actually, it’s a genetically acquired taste.“

     “Gawd, no!“  Millie whinned. 

     “But it gets worse,“ the creature said, drooling. 

     “What…could be worse?”

     The little monster raised the spatula it still held in one shaggy paw.  “You don’t have THIS.”