Ghost V

Something was standing in front of him. His alarm system, as before, hadn’t gone off. Gregor looked up slowly.The thing in front of him was about ten feet tall and roughly human in shape, except for its crocodile head. It was colored a bright crimson and had purple stripes running lengthwise on its body. In one claw, it was carrying a large brown can.

“Hello,” it said.

“Hello,” Gregor gulped. His blaster was on a table only two feet away. He wondered, would the thing attack if he reached for it?

“What’s your name?” Gregor asked, with the calmness of deep shock.

“I’m the Purple-striped Grabber,” the thing said. “I grab things.”

“How interesting.” Gregor’s hand began to creep toward the blaster.

“I grab things named Richard Gregor,” the Grabber told him in its bright, ingenuous voice. “And I usually eat them in chocolate sauce.”

(с) Robert Sheckley