A widow living alone on the top floor of an apartment building receives an eerie phone call: A man says, “This is the viper […] I’m coming up” (75). At first, she shrugs it off as a joke, but then the man calls again, saying that he’s coming up “soon” (75). When he calls a third time, saying that he’s coming up “now,” the frightened widow calls the police. Minutes later, when her doorbell rings, she thinks it’s the police; instead, it’s a little old man with a cloth and bucket, who says, “I am the viper […] I vish to vash and vipe the vindows” (75).

A hunter named Rupert lives alone deep in the woods with his dog, Sam, a big German shepherd he raised from a pup. Checking his traps in the morning, he always leaves Sam behind to guard the house, but one day, he senses that something is wrong and hurries back home. Not finding Sam in the house, Rupert searches the woods for days but can find no trace of his dog. One morning, he hears something moving in the attic. Cautiously, he gets his rifle and starts up the stairs, barefooted to make less sound.