"Just keep vacuuming." That's what she told herself every minute of every day. "Just... keep... vacuuming." Ever since 'It' showed up.

It had been a regular day, just like any other. Mrs. Gleeful had gone to the store to pick up some ice cream, just like her little Gideon loved. She had to hurry, though. The ice cream would not last long in the summer heat. She paid the cashier, and quickly headed out the door.

When she neared the house, she felt something touch her hand. She looked down to find the ice cream melting through the box. They would simply have to do without.

But something was wrong. She lifted the lid to find an apparition like something out of a daydream. a pink, writhing mass of slime, began eating away at the box it lay inside. She dropped the box, and ran, shrieking inside.

Gideon was not home. Neither was Bud. They were both-thankfully-away on another grudge mission against the Pines.

She ran to the kitchen. Grabbing a cast iron skillet from the cabinet, she held it out toward the wriggling pink blob. It ate the skillet too, dissolving it into it's now growing mass. She ran from the room, tossing every loose object she found at it as she went. Grabbing the recently used vacuum, she flipped the switch and pointed it at the thing.

It resisted at first, but eventually, it was pulled toward the end of the plastic hose. It did not eat away at the plastic, and instead, was pulled inside. When the last of that awful thing was sucked inside the tube, she collapsed on the floor, sweating profusely.

It began to wriggle back out though. She could hear it, squelching around inside the tube. she could see goo sliding out of the end. She could not destroy it, but perhaps she could contain it. She turned the vacuum back on and held it there, so that the evil pink goo could not escape.

Later, when Gideon came home, he paid her no mind. "Mother," he said as he walked in the door, Bud following close behind.

"Just keep vacuuming," she said to herself. "Just keep vacuuming.

She had tried several times to stop, but every time, it would begin to slide back out. Every day, she would pretend to vacuum the kitchen floor, so that they would think she was crazy. They would leave her alone if they thought she was crazy. She could not let them know. They were too happy. She could not let it hurt them. She had to keep vacuuming.

"Just keep vacuuming."