Fridge Beast lay curled in the back of the refrigerator, in the cool dark.

As thick as the girth of an average human thigh, slimy, cold to touch, with dark patterned skin and sleepy eyes, it couldn’t remember how long it had been there, or indeed how it had got there.

It knew food came regularly, fruit and fresh meats and it ate them happily, sometimes slithering up and down the shelves to get a particularly tasty morsel. It was a pleasant enough existence.

The only problem was the two warm flappy moving things that intruded on its space once in a while.  Fridge Beast didn’t know quite what they were, or whether they were good to eat or not, but it didn’t see why they wouldn’t be, they smelled of warm flesh.

It was determined to find out, it found them bothersome and intrusive. The two flappy things would come in along with pouring light into its cool quiet dark space, and it didn’t like that. The flappy things would move the food around- although they would put in new food too. So that was good. But maybe the flappy things themselves were food? Maybe they were tastier than any of the cold still food they left in the fridge?

And then one time, as the two moving flappy things entered the fridge and started moving everything around again, the long pointy fleshy things curling busily around the different items, they actually brushed against its slimy skin.

Fridge Beast heard a short screech and a human voice cried out “What the hell is in the back of this fridge? Marie- when was the last time you properly cleaned out the fridge?”

A woman’s voice answered something that Fridge Beast couldn’t make out. But it felt the creeping danger and knew its nice pleasant home was under threat.

And so, the next time the light poured in and the flappy things began moving around the fridge, Fridge Beast took its chance, stretched out its neck, and snap! Bit off one, and then the other one.

Blood spurted out everywhere, and the sound of terrible human screams filled the air.

Fridge Beast quietly munched on the human hands. It didn’t like them- they were bony and left sharp slivers in its throat. But the flavor was amazing.

So, with the door of the fridge open and the light pouring out, it slithered right out, plopped onto the kitchen floor, and slid its way to the human, covered in blood and screaming in agony, lying writhing on the ground, for a fuller feast.