Short Story Prompt: There was a thump from the kitchen.

James was having a great dream about giant peaches when he was awoken by a thumping noise from the kitchen.

The darn cat, he thought as he rolled over. he slowly cracked open an eye, intending to go downstairs and feed Fluffs just to shut him up. However, when he sat up he was greeted by Fluffs sitting on the end of his bed, licking his butt.

James was much more awake now.

He grabbed an old baseball bat he kept under his bed specifically for this purpose and slowly crept down the hallway. He could see the light of the kitchen was on, and a large shadow was being cast into the hallway. Belatedly, James wondered if he should have called the cops first.

The floor creaked under his feet, and James pressed himself against the wall. The movement from the kitchen paused.

“Yo, Ivan.”

Ivan? James thought. He lowered the bat and slowly approached the kitchen door.

A girl was standing in the middle of the room, raiding one of his cupboards. Her jeans and tank-top fit like a second skin, and her dyed-blond hair was a mass of tangles. The smell of beer permeated the entire room.

She turned around, looking only mildly surprised as she twisted the lid off of the Nutella jar. “You aren’t Ivan.”

“No, I’m not,” said John. “How did you get into my apartment?”

The girl stuck two fingers into the jar, scooped out a glob of the chocolate sauce and popped it into her mouth. A clump remained smeared on the corner of her cheek. “I guess Ivan gave me the wrong key.”

James vaguely remembered giving a spare key to his next-door neighbour. “Oh. Well, I guess you should head off to Ivan’s then.” He gestured vaguely with the baseball bat.

“Mmm, no,” she replied, still eating Nutella straight out of the jar with her fingers. “I like your food better. Ivan's got some stupid vegan-gluten-free thing going on.”

James didn’t know how to respond. “Oh.”

“So I’m gonna stay here. Y’know, just crash on your couch, okay?”

“Yeah.”

James dumbly moved aside as the girl strode into his living room and curled up on the couch, jar still in hand. “I’m Carrie, by the way.”

“Oh.”

“You can leave now.”

“‘Kay.”

James ambled back along the hallway to bed, where Fluffs was still sitting and licking himself. He couldn’t really comprehend what had just happened. But it was three in the morning. James lay down in his bed, and slept surprisingly well for a victim of breaking and entering.