The odd thing was the door was slightly ajar.
I was used to seeing it locked tight.
It was one of those things where I never saw anyone going either in or out.
Speculation was rife that there had once been a murder committed behind it. Others said the door opened onto a long and narrow corridor along which were small cells in which an order of reclusive nuns had lived in poverty and constant prayer.
I looked at the threshold, there were footprints.
I listened and heard shuffling and dragging. Someone was coming towards the door; there was a muffled voice.
“It’s time,” the voice said, “I know you don’t want to but you’ve been in here long enough and I can’t keep coming each week to feed you.”
I was stunned.
Someone had been in there?
I stepped back as I heard the steps coming closer to the doorway.
Through the opening door stepped an old man. Attached to his extended arm was the hand of a small hairy creature.
They stepped out into the daylight.
They set off down the High Street, locking the door behind them.
As they walked past me the old man nodded, and the creature, looked me up and down as if sizing me up for something unpleasant.
He smacked his lips, “Good morning young man,” he said in a very croaky voice.
I found it all very unnerving as I watched them hurry off down the High Street.
Written for the Unicorn Challenge
Morpethroad 
Did I hear a wee hairy creature mutter ‘Dinner!’ as he passed?
Good build-up of tension, Michael.
And the final line closes the story beautifully – expressing the extraordinary as if it were a completely ordinary occurrence.
And welcome to the Unicorn Challenge.
Good to see you here.
Until next week, I hope.
Thanks so much jenne, I’ll look for you next week.
Excellent, see you then.
When is a door not a door? When it’s a jar. What an interesting High Street you have in your area. 🙂
Thanks for your comment, yes its an interesting High Street, much like the folk who inhabit it.
Oh my Michael. Intriguing story………….
Thanks Di, the image suggested something sinister.
Same here…………..
didn’t see that one coming
but then that’s what makes flash-fiction fun, no?
Yes, a little twist in the tale is always fun. Thanks for your comment.
Ooh, clever!
Thank you.
Wow! that was great. The sounds of the old man’s exertions at the start, and the tension of that, and then the surprise of the creature, and then another surprise that he is so very polite and cultured, and they just walk off down the high street as though nothing surprising at all was going on – loved it.
Thanks so much Margaret for stopping by.
Sneaky and suspenseful, and a strong lead up to the unexpected surprise!
Terrifically creepy.
Oooh, I hope I’m right in thinking this won’t be the last time time we hear from the old man anad the hairy creature. The fact that he looked you up and down tells me he won’t forget you in a hurry. They may have locked the door, but in reality the door has been left wide open for future events. Great job, Michael, you’ve given us mystery and tension and left us wanting more.