The house was decorated beautifully. Bright red and yellow flowers, tall green trees, and a little fountain composed an inviting garden. Butterflies and hummingbirds chirped and gracefully flew throughout the area.

I missed going to Ms. Alexandria’s house. She would bake hot, chewy chocolate-chip cookies, and we would eat them while watching the gorgeous sunset.

Now that the new neighbor had moved in, Bliss Street looked and felt different. Ms. Alexandria’s flowers had wilted, her trees had lost their leaves, her fountain’s water had turned dirty brown, and heaps of newspapers had piled up on the driveway.

I had only seen the new resident once. It was past midnight, and usually I would have been asleep, but instead I was looking out my window. A small truck slowly drove onto the driveway. A dark figure, who had his face covered, mysteriously limped out of the truck. I thought that it was a man.

Suddenly, sleepiness overtook me, and I yawned and my eyes closed for a second. I snapped back awake and looked outside. I gasped, for the truck and new neighbor had disappeared. Had I imagined that? I was quite tired, and decided to go to sleep once and for all, but I began to feel uneasy. I felt like I was being watched, and then I noticed a small room in the corner of Ms. Alexandria’s mansion had been illuminated with a bright yellow light. My eyes darted towards it, and for half a second, I saw a blurry shape move away from the window. A second later, the yellow light turned off.

I scratched my head. I had not even met the neighbor, but I just knew that there was something peculiar about him. I figured that I would just get some rest for now, but tomorrow I would do some investigating.

Last night I had a strange, rather frightening dream. It was nighttime, and I was watching the new neighbor get out of his truck, just like the night before. He walked into his house, and a minute later, the light in the same room in the corner turned on. I watched as a dark figure walked to the window. I could feel his eyes pierce into mine. I knew that he was watching me, and he knew that I was watching him.

I woke up after that. I have had enough. It was time to go investigate. I put my coat on, and I walked across the street to the Ms. Alexandria’s old house.

Before, I would feel warmer as I walked to the old lady’s house. The hummingbirds and butterflies would look up from their flowers and zoom over to me and escort me to the front of the door. There was something inexplicably magical about the place.

However, walking to the house felt much more different today. With every step that I took, the clouds grew darker. I began to feel a wind blowing me away, and I could hear it hissing at me to leave. I was thinking about turning back, but I forced myself to knock on the door. I waited. And waited. And waited. Five minutes had passed, and so I pushed on the door. Suprisingly, it opened. I peeked in and gasped. The interior looked nothing like before.

Glass bottles were smashed all over the wooden floor, which looked like it had been invaded by an army of termites. Steps on the staircase were broken and cracked. The colorful, awe-inspiring stained glass window had a large hole smashed in the middle of it. There was also a putrid stench, like the smell of a decaying raccoon carcass that I had found in my backyard a long time ago.

I was a little scared, but also excited and determined to learn more about this bizarre inhabitant. I climbed up the stairs and looked down the long hallway. I glanced at every door, and remembered each and every one of them. I saw looked at Ms. Alexandria’s room, her study, her little library, her kitchen, and…

I could not quite recall ever seeing this room. The other doors were as clean and white as untouched snow, but this room’s door was brown and rotten. This room was on the very end of the hall. I tiptoed towards it. It felt like walking into a forbidden forest.

At last, I reached the door and was just about to push it open when something landed onto my shoulder. I jumped and spun around, finding myself staring at a strange creature. It had an impossibly tall, human-looking body dressed in a long black robe. The animal must be at least ten feet tall, but I wondered why it looked so much shorter the other night. Its head looked like a goat’s, but its nose looked like a pig’s.

I was horrified, and so I threw the thing’s hoof off of my shoulder, dashed down the stairs, escaped through the door, and scampered into my house.

“I thought this kind of stuff only happened in movies and books,” I whispered to myself.

I grabbed my phone and called the police.

“Hello. Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” the operator questioned.

“The-there is a person, well, a goat, a-a monster, uh, in a house across from mine.”

“Sir, please do not play jokes, for-”

“It isn’t a joke! I’m being serious! Please,” I begged, “Please send help fast.”

The operator thought, and then said, “Okay sir, stay put in your house. Help is on its way.”

Before I knew it, a sea of police officers arrived. I opened my door to greet them. I told them to go look inside the house across from mine, pointing at it. Ten of them, equipped with weapons, cautiously entered the mansion.

All of the other neighbors were waiting outside with the rest of the policemen and me. We all waited a while, and wondered what was going on.

Just then, a scream and some gunshots filled the air. Most of the remaining policemen hurried inside Ms. Alexandria’s house. The door automatically slammed shut when the last person went inside. Everybody waiting outside was silent, but then we heard fists pounding on the door, trying to escape.

But before anybody could reach the door in time to try and open it, the noise died and we all knew the unfortunate fate of the police officers.

After this sorrowful and controversial event, many rumors about the monster were created. I have heard that the creature was killed during the fight and I have heard that it is still living in the mansion. I have been told that the animal ran away into a forest, and I have been told that it was all a hoax.

I do not know whether the goat-pig monster was still alive or not, but I do know that it still haunts me in my dreams.