None of this would have happened if I was not late from work that day. I had to submit an overdue project. By the time I left the office, it was beyond 11 PM. I left the office, and was just about to flag a taxi when I realized that, in a haste to go home, I had left my wallet in my cubicle, and as my ID card was in it, I would not be able to go back to collect it. Luckily, my apartment was only a 20-minute walk away, so I decided that I would walk home and try to retrieve my wallet the following morning.

            As I walked down the suburban street, I couldn’t help but think of Halloween, which was only a few days away. Then, the streetlights went out. I froze. But then I remembered the article about the generator problem at the nearby power plant. I breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking. Luckily I had a pencil torch in my pocket. But then something else made me freeze. Apart from my footsteps, I could hear more footsteps behind me. They were definitely not human, as shoes made more sound than that. I turned around, and realized it was only a dog. I sighed again and continued walking. But the dog started to follow me. I didn’t think much about this. Then he started growling. The growling grew deeper and deeper till it seemed as if a wolf was doing it. I turned around once again. What I saw almost made me drop my flashlight.

            For some reason, the dog had suddenly become bigger than when I had seen him just a minute ago. Its eyes had suddenly become bloodshot. The hair had grown to three times its usual length. Its mouth started to froth a bit. At first I thought that it was actually a person in a costume, but it was too realistic. Without hesitating any further, I turned around and ran faster than I had ever done in my life. The creature had started to run behind me. It had almost caught up to me, when I took a quick turn into an alley. I managed to squeeze myself in a dumpster at the end. The stench was overpowering, but I had no other choice. Nothing happened for a few seconds. Then I heard the growl again. The creature was right outside the dumpster. It tried to enter the dumpster, but just couldn’t manage to do it with its big, clumsy paws. Finally, after about a minute, the growling seemed to cease. However, I decided not to take any chances and stayed there for a full five minutes. Then I slowly peeked out. It wasn’t there. I slowly got out and ran the rest of the way home. It was only when I closed the door behind me that I realized that I was completely wet with perspiration.