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He was awoken to the sound of a loud crash… again
God dammit
Normally, as a writer, Poe would not check out the strange noise from outside, but he knew what was causing the sound. Along with the fact that if his father caught him not doing anything about it… well he didn’t wanna deal with extra chores tomorrow — technically it was already ‘tomorrow, so maybe later…? — He yanked his blanket off of him, throwing his legs off the bed. He made his way down the cool creaky stairs, praying he wouldn’t wake up either of his (adoptive) parents.
The animals hadn’t even woken up yet, and here he was, with a shovel he grabbed from the ground from yesterday, holding it like a sort of weapon in case he needed to defend himself. He walked around the house, holding in his breath as he neared the corner. He heard something eating scraps from dinner days back.
He took a deep breath in and jumped around the corner, yelling (not too loud of course, he’d wake up everyone who was enjoying their sleep ). He was met with a turned over trash can, its contents spilled over the ground, and dead silence.
If you were wondering why the little monster getting into the trash hadn’t been actually caught yet was because it kept getting away at the last second. Poe didn’t even know how the hell the little shit was getting into the trash, the trashcan had a lock on it. Maybe this wasn’t some sort of rodent and was actually some horrifying monster waiting for him to let down his guard so it could eat him.
Wonderful, now he had to clean up all this… he didn’t even want to know what it was, the flies certainly liked it though. He positioned himself up against the wall so he wasn’t leaving himself open to an attack from the darkness as he used the shovel to toss all the revolting contents back into the can. How could something even eat this?
When he was done and the trash can was back standing upright, he made a break for it and ran all the way back inside. No way in hell was he risking getting chopped up and eaten. He dropped the shovel at the last minute possible, wanting to hold onto it as long as he could. He winced at the clatter it made, of course hitting the once spot near the porch with rocks instead of the grass.
Closing the door behind him he faced another problem. Getting back to his bed, at this point his heart was racing, he knew nothing was really going to happen. But he had the mind of a writer and couldn’t help but vividly imagine things that made his skin crawl-
WHATTHEFUCKWHATTHEUCKWHATTHEFUCK-
Something darted across the windowsill, he couldn’t even tell if it was inside or outside but he couldn’t care less anymore. Maybe he should invest in track or football like his father has been nagging him to do so, he probably broke a record with how fast he sprinted across the house and up the stairs to his room. He practically flew to his bed with that jump and hid under his blankets, not daring to move.
When his alarm to do chores it startled him from his cocoon so much he nearly yelped. He doesn’t think he’s ever done his morning chores so quickly before, the animals even seem put off which didn’t help. So when he was done he dashed past his father, ignoring any form of greeting and hid back under the safety of his covers
-x-
“Ed, you look actually dead.” His father stated bluntly, looking over his newspaper as his mother cooked breakfast in the other room. “Did staying up all night writing those horrifying-”
“Mystery-” he cut in, dead panned.
“-Novels finally get to you?” John set down the paper, taking a long sip of coffee that looked far too hot to be drinkable. Poe simply groaned, taking a seat at the table and laying his head in his arms.
“Elbows off the table dear.” His mother reminded him as a plate of food was set in front of him. He lifted his head, taking a fork and slowly began to nibble at his meal.
“Did you hear that vermin last night honey? It’s driving me insane.” His father said angrily, glancing back at his paper.
“Yes dear, though I’m sure Ed will handle it soon enough.” His mother called from the kitchen..
“That’s right, Edgar, how long does it take to handle a rodent?” He turned his attention to the dead looking boy.
“I tried- but it disappeared before I could get to it.” Poe huffed, sleep and drowsiness hanging to his voice.
“It’s already been a few days, you get another week before I lace the trash and just kill the thing.” John stated, finishing what was left of his eggs. Poe had a slight issue with dead animals, they always set him off, especially if it was serving a purpose for being dead, like putting food on the table. He never voiced it — he’d have to explain why but he couldn't voice what happened with that black cat and those five boys— but both John and Francis easily figured it out.
-x-
Three days. Poe went three days without sleep trying to catch that little fucker- In short, he was losing his mind. He was one hundred percent sure the rodent was actually some sort of terrifying monster or someone just fucking with him as a ‘prank’.
Today, instead of being able to finish his chores so he could go home and write, his father called for him, extremely angry.
Seems the monster had figured out what they were growing was corn and had ruined a few crops. Shit. Edgar was going insane, but it seems his father beat him to it, after grumbling threats to no one in particular and kicking a rock. After making Edgar promise he would catch the little thing by tonight he finally went back inside.
While Poe fed the chickens, checking for any eggs, he got an idea. Now, Poe was certainly good at planning, anything that required his head he excelled at. But he had no clue how he was going to execute it. So he decided to head in for breakfast while he thought of how to modify the idea. Both his mother and father didn’t even try talking to him as he glared daggers at his food, lost in thought.
Later that evening once he’s finished dinner he went to the shed. Has Poe ever made a trap for an animal before? Well- one that wouldn’t hurt the animal in any way? Not at all. Does he have to? No. Thank god he found one already built his father had bought a while ago and probably forgot about.
He dragged the cage like contraption out from under a shelf and examined it. Would a monster fit in there? Nope. So he had to hope it was in fact a rodent and not some sort of creature waiting to end up with him missing in the woods and never found again.
Poe underestimated how heavy this thing was as he unceremoniously carried it to the field (only tripping and falling on his face once might he add). He dumped the thing a little ways into the field of corn, still where he could see the way out but was mostly hidden from view.
Poe was definitely not going to get trash and put it in there so he had to think of something else. Something better than corn cause- well they were surrounded by it and why would it climb in a small box to get something it was surrounded by.
What smelled just as bad as whatever the creature apparently loved to scrape out of the trash? Cat food. After he brought home Pluto and his mother fell in love with the small cat- she had bought cat food for him, overly excited. He’s pretty sure it’s still in the pantry. So, Poe ran all the way back to the house, dodged questions from his parents, and ran all the way back to the field. By the time he was done he was out of breath.
Noticing how late it was he opened the can and placed it in the cage, clearing the area so he wouldn’t scare away the creature. He stumbled his way back home in utter defeat, hope and some adrenaline keeping him from collapsing on the couch as soon as he got home. He made it halfway up the stairs- half way- when he heard the familiar clang of the trash.
Any sort of sluggishness was instantly washed away as he jumped down the stairs and sprinted outside to find- noone at the trash, again.
It was barely there, honestly he’d probably miss it if he wasn’t so dedicated. The sound of a certain trap slamming shut sounded off in the distance. Was Poe extremely tired? Yes. Did he still sprint to the field? Absolutely.
He ended up tripping over a fallen corn stalk, face first in the dirt. As he started sitting up he met eyes with a creature. They stared each other down for at least a minute straight before Poe realized it was what he caught in the trap. Poe scrambled up to get a better look.
There sat a small raccoon, little hands holding onto the can of tuna for dear life. This was certainly not a terrifying creature of the night- well, it could be in some ways. Poe just sat there, unsure of what to do. His father only said to catch it, not what to do afterwards. But a part of him feared what his father might do when Poe wasn’t around and- he didn’t want to think about that.
“How’d you manage to survive this long out here?” Poe asked the animal, great, first cats and crows, now he’s talking to raccoons. “I’m surprised something bigger hasn’t eaten you. Are you out here alone?”
The creature just looks at him with a look that said ‘ you expect me to know?’
Ah right, it's an animal. Either way Poe felt a strange urge to keep talking to the little thing. He needed to stop calling it ‘little thing’ or any other derogatory term he’s used. He glanced at the cat food’s mascot printed on the side of the can near the label. ‘K a r l’ in bold letters on its collar tag.
“Karl…” Poe mumbled. “Is that okay? If I name you Karl?”
The raccoon- Karl- looked at him like he was insane ‘why would I care?’
Poe started laughing at the situation. “I thought you were a monster-” he was already out of breath from running but now being unable to stop laughing didn’t help. He wasn’t sure how long had passed but Karl seemed far less traumatized, having already finished the can of cat food and sitting politely in the cage, responding as best he could for an animal to anything Poe said.
“Okay… I’m gonna let you out, but you have to promise not to go after the trash or crops again.” Poe was completely dumbfounded on what else the creature would do or go. The neighbors would surely kill him. Poe still undid the latch, opening the door for Karl. The Raccoon stayed inside, clearly still unsure about the situation.
Poe, knowing he’d regret this later, stepped away and began heading to bed like he normally would. This was until he heard a soft patter of feet behind him. He turned around and saw nothing. So, he walked after, the feet picking up speed too. This went on until he was running, the feet keeping up with him until he suddenly spun around right as he reached the porch. Karl, caught off guard, fell back.
Poe got another idea.
-x-
“Ed- what the f-” His father froze, his fork hovering away from his mouth as he stared at the boy.
“He’s sleeping.” Edgar shushed him, taking a seat at the table with a sleeping raccoon wrapped around his shoulders.
“Francis- You’re seeing this right?” His father dumbfoundedly looked back from the boy and to the kitchen.
-x-