Under the Rug

"Under the Rug" illustration taken from 

Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg

Have you ever had a RAT in the house?  Well, Mr. and Mrs. Whitley always had some.  Everyday Mr. and Mrs Whitley searched for rats because there were always rats in the garden.  The rats would sneak into the house to keep warm when it was raining cats and dogs.  And Mr. and Mrs. Whitley were always prepared for the rats.  When it rained and they heard squeaking noises, they would grab the broom and look for them and when they found one, they would smack it to death.

There was a witch living next door called Witch Crackle.  She heard Mrs. Whitley's screams whenever there were rats in the house.  Witch Crackle got so fed up with Mrs. Whitley's screaming.  She tried many ways to avoid hearing her screams but nothing worked.

One rainy Sunday, Witch Crackle sat on her red comfy sofa and thought of a way to put an end to Mrs. Whitley's screams - she would turn Mrs. Whitley into a rat!  Witch Crackle dashed to the basement to grab her big giant cauldron and she remembered that she had rodent hair on the living room sofa so she grabbed some and threw them into the pot, added water, stirred them all together and soon she got the rat potion.

Witch Crackle called Mrs. Whitley on the phone and said to her, "Uuummm... Mrs. Whitley, would you come to my house for a cup of tea?"  Mrs. Whitley said, "OK, I'll be there in 10 minutes."  Witch Crackle laughed and laughed and laughed.

After 10 minutes, there was a knock on the door and it was Mrs. Whitley.  Witch Crackle welcomed her in.  She said to Mrs. Whitley, "I shall go get the cookies and tea you little dork... I mean little angel.. hehe.  You wait here."

Mrs. Whitley waited.  Finally Witch Crackle came back and poured out the tea and gave her the biscuits.  Witch Crackle said, "Drink this; it is very healthy."

Suddenly, there was a bang and a boom!  Witch Crackle peeped and saw that Mrs. Whitley was a rat and she laughed and laughed and laughed.  She went to the window of Mrs. Whitley's house and threw her in.

When Mr. Whitley saw the rat, he quickly snatched the broom and kept hitting Mrs. Whitley and hitting her.  Mrs. Whitley kept running and hiding.  Finally she hid under the rug.  Her heart was racing faster and faster.  Mr. Whitley saw a hump under the rug and knew that it was the rat.  He put down the broom, picked up a chair and whacked her with the chair.  Her heart stopped, her blood stopped flowing and that was the end of Mrs. Whitley and her screams.