Bogleech.com's 2013 Horror Write-off:

"The Hungry Rug"

Submitted by Ryan Oleynik

They said it wasn’t real,

Just my imagination.

A simple child’s fear,

A mere fabrication.

I don’t believe their words,

Or the lies they sing.

Because I know for sure,

My rug is a living thing.

It looks perfectly normal,

When laying on my floor.

But that quickly changes,

When my parents close my door.

My rug used to be just fine,

Just a lifeless rectangle.

But now it is a thing,

That can kill, eat and mangle.

It happened when it was dark,

On a warm, calm night.

It flew in through my window,

Like a freakish, furred kite.

It landed on my old rug,

While I watched from my bed.

It tore up the dead carpet,

And ate up every shred.

Now it sits and waits,

After that nightly ordeal.

For me to get near it,

And become its next meal.

I have one advantage though,

From this beast most infernal.

It only is awake at night,

I think it’s called “nocturnal?”

But at night it is hungry,

So I feed it all my toys.

It is sad to see them go,

But it’s better than little boys.

I tried to tell my parents,

Asked them to throw it out.

“Monsters are not real,”

Is all they seem to shout.

If they could only see it,

I know they would swear.

If they saw the lump it had,

When it ate my teddy bear.

I tried to show my mom,

Rather than the stories I tell.

I thought it would be easy,

But it didn’t go so well.

I wonder for how long,

It will sit there and wait.

For me to stumble on it,

And befall a horrid fate.

But tonight I won’t worry,

Unlike any other.

It won’t be hungry now,

Since it’s digesting my mother.