text: [Themes: horror, humor]
  
  You are shaking in fear as you get up from the recliner and slowly walk over to the door and grab the knob. "Please be there"..."Please be there" you hear whispered from the other side.
  
  You open the door to see Alice, your next door neighbor, crying and shaking at your doorstep.
  
  "What happened?" you ask.
  
  "There is a crazy kid trying to kill me...I need help." Alice blurts out as she faints and falls forward.
  
  You catch her and drag her into your living room.
  
  As you go to close the door...something catches the corner of your eye. It is the shadow of a short figure slowly walking up your driveway!
  
  You slam the door shut and bolt lock it.
  
  "Great...you say to yourself...this midget psycho is after me and I don't even own a gun!!!"
  
  What do you do?
  
  > hide in the bedroom?
  You run down the hallway and into your bedroom. You can hear loud thudding noises coming from the front door.
  
  "The midget maniac must be chopping down the front door with his axe" you think.
  
  You frantically scan your bedroom...do you hide under the bed or in the closet?
  
  > Under the bed?
  Under the bed you go.
  
  As you lie there shaking in fear, you start to hear screams coming from the living room. It's Alice! You've left her there to fall victim to the murdering midget!!!
  
  Alice!!!...Back here!!
  
  You scream for her to come back to where you are. The pitter patter of quickly running feet are heard as Alice runs down the hall and enters the bedroom.
  
  "Under the bed." you whisper.
  
  "Are you crazy?" Alice yells back. "If he catches us under there...we both die!!"
  
  "She's got a point." you think. You scurry out from under the bed.
  
  The house suddenly grows quiet. The hacking on the front door has stopped and all that is heard is the faint sound of the television.
  
  Suddenly, Alice picks up the digital alarm clock from off your night stand and hurls it at the bedroom window.
  
  "We have got to get out of here!" she says.
  
  Alice runs over to the broken window and starts clearing out any shards of glass still protuding from the window sill.
  
  You stand watch in the middle of the room with your eyes fixated on the doorway to the bedroom.
  
  Alice is already halfway out the window to the outside when the maniac turns from down the hall and slowly enters the bedroom. He stares at you with sweat pouring from his black matted hair, down his face, and dripping off of his chin. His chest heaving deeply from his recent battle with your front door. His eyes dart past you and focus on Alice climbing out the window.
  
  Alice screams as her pant leg gets caught on an unseen shard of glass.
  
  "She's stuck!!" you think. "Is this maniac just going to waltz in and finally kill her?"
  
  You want to move but you seem frozen like a deer in the glaring eyes of the murdering midget.
  
  As the midget slowly circles around you, he begins to cackle a laugh that seems to fill the whole house.
  
  You suddenly snap out of whatever trance you were in. The midget seems to be unarmed. If you tackle him now- Alice might have a chance to break free and get away.
  
  What do you do??
  
  > tackle the midget?
  Without thinking you run directly at the midget. Your head connects with something hard and your vision becomes blurry. You look around the room but can't make anything out. It's too dark. You stagger about, looking for the light switch and swinging your arms out in front of you.
  
  Tripping over something, you hit your head hard against the wall. Your body slumps to the floor and...you black out.
  
  You can't breath...
  
  You awaken to a horrible sight. You are still in your bedroom and the midget is laughing and jumping on your bed. He crouches at the edge of the bed and stares down at you. Your head is throbbing with pain and your vision still seems a little blurry.
  
  With one quick thrust the midget leaps forward. He lands feet first, on your stomach.
  
  You try to yell, but there's no breath in your lungs. You make a desperate attempt to roll over, but small as this creature seems to be, he is much too heavy. You can't move while he stands on top of you.
  
  He leans forward, stares down at your face and says with low gutteral growl... "Your angel of death awaits you."
  
  The creature's sweat drips off his head and down your throat. He squats low, suddenly snarls, lowers his head and opens his mouth.
  
  Only then do you see that he has long, razor sharp fangs. You tremble all over as that wicked mouth moves closer. You stare at the face and suddenly it changes!
  
  The matted black hair becomes long and curly. The face of a beautiful young woman takes the place of the midget's hideous mug. It's Alice!!!
  
  "Are you OK?...Honey, wake up." Alice says with a worried look on her face.
  
  You bolt straight up into a sitting position and look around. You are in your own bed with Alice...your wife. She sits beside you in her red night gown.
  
  "You were screaming in your sleep again." she says.
  
  You calm down as reality all comes back to you.
  
  You are a comic book writer working on a horror story in graphic novel form. Its about a midget clown that goes on a drug crazed frenzy, escapes the circus and kills lots of people.
  
  "Must be the story I'm working on." you tell Alice.
  
  She kisses you on the cheek and tells you to get some rest. You let out a sigh of relief and settle back into bed.
  
  "Good night baby." you whisper to her.
  
  "Good night." she replies as she turns out the light.
  
  NOTE: Good Work. You survived the Murdering Midget...as if there ever really was one.