(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)

It was the only thing I ever feared growing up.

It started with the missing socks from my drawer.

Then the snacks in my backpack started disappearing.

The food trails went under the bed.

I thought I was done for.

One night, I saw it.

It bared its teeth.

I knew then.

“Carrot sticks!”

Vegetarian.

This piece is based on What If? Exercise 93: “Ten to One”. The exercise is to write a 55-word story in which the first sentence has ten words, the second has nine, etc., until the last sentence has only one word. The objective is to show that precision and thrift in writing can produce surprisingly powerful results. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!

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