I stood frozen at the edge of the porch, staring at the strange thing half-buried beneath the loose wooden plank. At first glance, it didn’t even look real. It was swollen, pale pink, and glistening in the dim afternoon light in a way that instantly made my stomach tighten. My brain raced through every horrible possibility before logic even had a chance to intervene. It looked disturbingly alive, like something that should not have been growing underneath my house.
For several long seconds, I couldn’t move. Every instinct told me
