Straws of fate.

Sam, Emily, and Juliet were born into a family where both parents work and are almost never at home, so the kids have to look out for themselves, take care of themselves, and do almost everything by themselves. Their mom had a nanny look after them while they were young but now believes they are old enough to lookout for each other as well as take care of each other, so she relieved the nanny of her duties, and since then the kids have learned to do things for themselves as well as learn to survive on their own, but have still have one challenge.

Despite coming of age, all three kids have not been able to master staying in the dark; the moment the house goes dark and they are all by themselves, they get scared and start to panic, and at that moment everything tends to scare them. Their mother makes sure there is a power supply and a standby backup generator in case a power outage becomes inevitable.

"I will be working on a two-day shift; I cannot come home and prepare you guys for the night. Your dad will come around before leaving for his own shift; he will be the one to make sure all that you need is in place." Kate, their mother, said to them over the phone.

Source

"But Mom, how sure are you that Dad will be able to do it like you do it? What if things go wrong? He has never done it before. How sure are you he will get it right just once?" Sam asked,

"Let's hope he does; if he doesn't, then it will be left for you guys to sort yourselves out. You are now grown-ups, and you all know that." Kate responded.

"Well, just tell him what you do and how you do it every day before leaving for your shift, and most importantly, power supply." Emily shouted from the background.

"I have told him all of that; he knows what to do. See you guys in two days." Kate said as she hung up.

Their father came home like their mom promised, put things in place, and made sure they were ready for the night, but he believed that since there hadn't been any power outage for over two weeks, he did not see any reason to fuel the backup generator, and he left.

After he left, the kids went to do their usual night games, having fun until they fall asleep with bright lights shining everywhere so they could see even the smallest thing that crept into the house, but this night was different. While they were still playing around, the power went off. They had run out of power subscription.

"Please call Mom. Someone, please call Mom." Sam said with a low voice as he walked backwards towards his sisters. "I warned Mom about this, but she wouldn't listen." Sam added

"She's not picking up." Emily said

"She might be busy with work." Juliet suggested

"What do we do now?" Emily asked

"Did you hear that noise?" They kept asking themselves if they heard the loud noise in the kitchen as they held eachother tightly.

"Who is there?" They asked at the same time but got no response.

"Sam, go and check; you are the man of the house since Dad is not here." Juliet and Emily said, pushing Sam to the front as they walked towards the kitchen with a dim torch with weak bstteries that kept flickering.

Getting close to the kitchen they heard another sound and this one was even louder than the first and they heard like someone walked from the sitting room back to the kitchen and immediately they had shivers run down their spine and Sam no longer wanted to be in front or be used as a sacrificial lamb because he was a man.

Source

"You guys cannot just send me out there for whatever is in there." Sam said as he withdrew from the front.

"Okay here is the deal, whoever draws out the shortest straw goes into the kitchen to see what is in there." Emily who had always had straws in her pocket for when she wants another person to do the dishes said.

"Sam, you are the man of the house; I hope the straw chooses your fate for you." Juliet said as she drew out her own straw.

"I will make sure I draw out the longest straw; watch and see." Sam said as he drew his own straw out.

"Now, everyone show your straw." Emily said as she smiled mischievously, and it was at that moment that the smiles on Sam's face faded with the speed of light; he picked the shortest straw.

"Indeed this is the straw of fate; it is fate for you to go in there." Juliet said as she cheered him up, giving him the morale he needed to go into the kitchen and see what was there.

Sam pouted, "But you guys will come with me, even if you just stand by the door and not necessarily go into the kitchen with me." Sam pleaded.

"We are not the ones with the short straw, so do you, bro." Juliet and Emily said it together, like they read each other's minds.

Sam headed to the kitchen with his flickering torch. He got into the kitchen, and the shadow of a pot and a rat standing close to the pot caused him to scream out loud.

"aaaaaahhhhh." Sam screamed as he fell to the ground, with his sisters already feeling they would pee themselves where they were standing in the sitting room.

"Sam, what did you see? What is it?" Juliet asked when the noise died down.

"It's just a rat doing its thing. I am never playing shortest straw with you guys again; I almost died today." Sam said as he headed back to the sitting room to meet his sisters, who sent him out on a quest.