The Weekend

“Thank goodness it’s Friday!” yelled Albert. His celebration was cut short when the words, “reset your password”, appeared on his computer screen. “I could have sworn I just changed it.” Albert crossed his arms and spun around in his office chair. “Got it!” He quickly entered his new password and shut down his workstation. He waltzed his way to the elevators, leaving behind his cluttered cubicle until Monday. “Any plans for the weekend’? Albert’s coworker, Shawn, never failed to ask the same mundane question every Friday. “No, just spending a quiet weekend at home.” The awkwardness in the elevator was so thick, you could slice it with a knife. “Ding!” The elevator doors opened slowly. “Have a good weekend, Albert!” “Yeah, you too, Shawn.” Albert couldn’t get to his car quick enough. He zipped through the parking garage right into rush hour traffic. Horns were blaring, cars were at a standstill, but Albert didn’t mind one bit. He was ready to enjoy the next two days doing absolutely nothing.

After sitting in traffic for over an hour, Albert finally pulled into his driveway. His neighbor, Mrs. Green, was standing in his front yard. “Hello, Mrs. Green. Is everything ok?” “Oh, yes dear. I thought I saw you walking around inside. I need to borrow a cup of sugar." Albert didn’t think too much into the situation since Mrs. Green was a little on the nosy side. She probably saw the shadow of one of his plants. “Let me get you that cup of sugar.” Albert and Mrs. Green walked inside, and a blast of hot air rushed pass them. “Wow! What was that?” "Probably just my house being its old, weird self. I’m sure it’s nothing.” Albert and Mrs. Green made their way into the kitchen, ignoring the inferno they just walked into. “Here’s your sugar Mrs. Green.” “Thank you so much! You’re a lifesaver.” “No problem.” Albert showed Mrs. Green to the front door. She smiled and waved goodbye. “Whew! Finally, some me time.” Albert grabbed his cell phone and flopped down on the couch. Another gust of hot air came out of nowhere. “Ok, what’s really going on here?” Albert couldn’t tell what the source of the hot air was.

He checked every room throughout the house, but he didn’t feel an unusual amount of heat coming from either of them. The thermostat was set to 73 degrees, so that couldn’t be the culprit. “Am I losing my mind?” he thought. Albert headed back downstairs, still clueless to why his house is having hot flashes. Whatever it was seemed to be out of his control. He ordered take out and turned on his favorite show. After a few hours, he fell asleep on the couch, the remote still in his hand. He was awakened by drops of slimy liquid hitting his face. With his eyes barely opened, Albert’s body froze in pure terror. There was an enormous monster standing right over him. It quickly disappeared, leaving behind that same intense feeling of heat that he and Mrs. Green felt earlier. Still in disbelief, Albert managed to snap back and ran for the front door. He flung it opened and started yelling, “Somebody help! There’s a monster in my house! There’s a monster in my house!” Mrs. Green ran outside after hearing Albert’s cry for help. “Honey what are you yelling about?” Gasping for air, he fell to his knees. “Mrs. Green, there’s a monster in my house. I think that’s what caused the heat we felt earlier.” “Oh, don’t be silly dear. There’s no such thing as monsters.” Mrs. Green’s eyes began to roll to the back of her head. Her body started to convulse. “What the…?!” Albert stood up as Mrs. Green transformed into a red, scaly monster. Her yellow, jagged teeth could barely fit in her mouth. She launched at Albert. Fortunately, he was able to escape just as her sharp claws swiped towards the back of his legs.

This was not the weekend Albert had planned. Not sure where else to go, he ran back inside of his house. He grabbed his phone to call for help. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t dial 911. After several attempts, he threw his phone and ran into the bathroom. He thought he would be safe there until he could figure out what to do. He paced back and forth, replaying his encounter with the monsters. He stopped pacing. He could hear heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. “Oh, no. I can’t be shred to bits by monsters.” Albert slowly pulled back the shower curtain to hide. Before he could step inside, Mrs. Green, still in her monster form, burst through the bathroom door. Albert fell into the bathtub right into the arms of the monster that watched him sleep. He kicked and screamed, but he was no match for the monsters. He felt his eyes getting heavier as they devoured him like he was their last meal. “Albert? Albert? Wake up buddy.” Albert jumped out of his chair and fell to the floor. “Sorry about that Shawn. I must’ve dozed off for a minute. “No problem, buddy. Have a good weekend!” “I can’t believe I fell asleep at work. I must definitely need some me time.” Albert looked at the clock. It felt like he was asleep for hours. As he gathered his things to go home, he heard a ping sound. A message popped up on the computer screen. “Reset your password.” The air became hot. Albert’s eyes grew wide. “No, not again!”