Rufus began to step backwards, wondering if he should turn and run, as something from the darkness slid into view - a large mound of translucent pink slime, with a single large eyeball in its center, blinking at him. 

He stared at it for a long moment. It stared back. 

“H… hello?” He said tentatively.

If the slime creature could understand him, it gave no indication. It merely blinked again.

“Okay…” Rufus muttered to himself, beginning to step around the slime. If it wasn’t going to bother him, he could just ignore it and move on. The slime responded to this by allowing part of itself to ooze into Rufus’s path, causing him to slip and stumble. 

“Whoa!” He managed to catch himself before falling over completely, and looked over at the slime. “Hey! What was that about?”

The slime did not answer him. It only stared and blinked. Rufus grunted with irritation and began to try and walk away again. This time, when the slime attempted to make him slip, he hopped nimbly over the small pool of ooze, and thus made it past the slime.

“Hah!” Rufus thought to himself. No brainless pile of sludge would outfox him! He looked back over his shoulder at the thing as he walked away, wondering if it would follow.

It did not. It only stared.