The House-Sitter

Tomas was traveling around New Zealand with very little money. In Christchurch, he found a strange job online: "House-sitter wanted for two weeks. Free room, free food. You must follow the rules." He wrote to the family that evening.

The Wilsons were leaving for Australia the next morning. Mrs. Wilson gave Tomas a key and a long list. "Rule one: you must water the plants every day," she said. "Rule two: you mustn't open the blue door at the end of the hall. Rule three: you have to sing to the chickens at seven o'clock."

"Sing to the chickens?" Tomas asked. "Yes," she said. "They don't lay eggs if nobody sings. Any song is fine." Then the family left, and Tomas was alone in the big house.

The first days were easy. He watered the plants. He sang old Spanish songs to the chickens, and they gave him six eggs. But every night he looked at the blue door and thought, "Why mustn't I open it?"

On the eighth day, he heard a noise behind the blue door. A soft noise, like something moving. Tomas was scared, but he had to know. He opened the door very slowly.

Inside, there was a small room full of boxes, and on the boxes sat an enormous orange cat. It looked at him and said, "Meow." Then it walked past him into the kitchen and ate Tomas's dinner.

That night Mrs. Wilson called. "Is everything okay?" "Yes," said Tomas. "But why mustn't I open the blue door?" She laughed. "Because of Pumpkin. He is on a diet, and he mustn't eat anything after six. Did he eat your dinner?" Tomas looked at the empty plate. "He did," he said.