A dusty fan circulated across the room from one end to the other. It’s been a while since Augustus put it to use, so he couldn’t blame the junk for its inability to remember its single duty. Arkansas hasn’t had a summer night like this since he was a child. He lay in his damp sheets, wiping sweat from his upper chin and brows. The little fan cocked back after a few rotations, stuttered in place, and then jerked back to its routine. The only light coming into the bedroom was from the moonlight. He waited patiently for the noise of the corn stocks to ruffle outside, but it never came.

 “Do you think the offering will work?” Hadley asked as she walked into the bedroom. “It’s too quiet, Gus. It’s making me feel shaky.”

Hadley crawled into bed next to Augustus. He put his hands out to prevent her from getting too close. The humidity made him ornery, and he wanted the night to be over with. He wanted to hear its satanic growls and hisses and the disgusting sounds of its feeding, just so Hadley could go to bed and stop bugging him with her worries.

“It has worked every seven years for the last forty years,” Augustus said. “Why wouldn’t it this year?”

Suddenly, like a hundred rats running across an attic wood floor, the sound of its curved long claws climbing viciously along the side of their house filled Augustus and Hadley’s ears. Augustus put his arm around Hadley, now allowing her to slide closer for comfort. Its clicking grumbles ricocheted through the windows. The cattle outside began a ruckus, stomping through the fields. It was time, even the livestock knew, they remembered this.

Augustus sat up, peeking his head slightly upwards so he could see out the window. He’s never actually seen it. Even as a child, his friends would make bets on who would get the very first glance. But, they were always overcome with the fear that whoever made eye contact with it would die instantaneously. Augustus was sick of the same routine, perhaps curious about the duties of the feeding. He just wanted a peek at what he and his village had become slaves to.

As Augustus slithered up, he saw it through the window, its hands completely still, staring him in the eyes.