I woke up to the sound of my parrot mimicking my mother’s voice. “Get out of my house,” it said.

My cat, Mr. Cat, was perched on my bedspread, looking at the parrot as though he was ready to pounce. I reached over to pet my cat, but he scratched me and ran out the door.<br><br>I sat up, feeling a little stunned, and turned to look at the parrot. He cocked his head at me and looked at me with an unblinking stare. I shuddered, got out of bed, and walked to the kitchen.<br><br>My mother had bought the parrot for me as a joke, but it had quickly become the best gift I had ever received. Scary was his name, and scare was his game. Every night, I would teach the parrot how to scare my friends when they came over. He learned quickly, and soon enough he was jumping out from behind doors and screaming “Boo” at the top of his lungs.<br><br>But this was different. This was the first time he had ever mimicked my mother.<br><br>I shuddered again, thinking about how strange it was for the parrot to say that, and opened the fridge. That was when I smelled it. Gas. I looked over and saw that the stove was on. The burner was roaring loudly, spitting out blue flames like a dragon.<br><br>I turned it off and called the gas company, and then I called my mother to vent. She didn’t pick up. Instead, she called a few minutes later.<br><br>“Where are you?” I asked her. “I thought you were staying with me tonight.”<br><br>“I’m not your mom,” she said. Then she hung up.<br><br>I called her again, but she didn’t answer. Worried and upset, I decided to go outside for some fresh air. That’s when I saw my mother’s car. It had driven through the fence, into my front yard, and was smoking badly. I ran to it and saw that my mother was dead inside. Then I saw a piece of paper on the passenger seat.<br><br>It had a note in my mother’s handwriting. “Get out of my house,” it said.<br><br>Then I heard a loud noise from behind me. I turned to see that my house was on fire. In one of the windows, I could see Mr. Cat, looking at me as though he wanted me to follow him.<br><br>I got into my car and left as quickly as I could. When I looked back at my house, Scary the parrot was sitting in the window where my cat had been. He cocked his head at me, as though he was ready to pounce.