The Creature in the Crack

After the heat wave cooked my backyard a large crack developed in the soil; it ran almost the length of the yard and was more than three inches wide at it widest. I wouldn't have noticed it except my wife's dog got her leg stuck in it.
I was barbecuing, when I heard Pepper yelping. I went to see what the problem was; she was stuck in this huge crack in the ground. I'd seen the ground crack during dry weather before, but never like this.
I grabbed Pepper behind her front legs and wiggled her paw free. I thought the crack might be dangerous so I decided I would fill it in with dirt. My three year old's sand box had become contaminated with dead leaves so I decided to recycle the sand to fill the crack, but it wasn't enough; the sand just poured loosely to into the crack and was gone. I remembered that my neighbor Sam had gotten a truck load of dirt dumped in his front yard for a landscaping project. I called him and he said I could have all I needed.
So, off I went with my wheelbarrow and my shovel; the pile of dirt was huge. This will be more than enough to fill the crack I thought. I scooped up a load and went back to pour it in the crack.
I tipped the wheelbarrow at the widest part of the crack and the soil dumped loosely in, percolated down, and was gone. Three more loads of dirt sifted easily into the hungry crack. Geez, It must go all the way to China; I thought. Yeah, or to hell, a darker part of my mind postulated.
The day had become quite hot, I wiped the sweat from my face then stopped and got down on my knees to peer into the crack. I took my trusty pocket flashlight out and shined it down into the darkness. Wow! I can't even see the bottom. This is going to be more work than I thought. Just as I was about to get up from my kneeling position I heard what sounded like a low rumbling growl. I was startled; I looked into the crack again. Down in the darkness, I was sure I saw a pair of yellow eyes looking back at me. I jumped back, falling over myself, and dropping my flashlight into the crack. I heard a thump and some distant crunching sounds. I scrambled to my feet, and timidly looked into the crack, half expecting some rabid burrowing animal to jump out at me, but there was nothing there. Gosh, I must be bordering on heatstroke I thought; I must be hallucinating.
After a long air-conditioned break including a quart of Gatorade I Hauled eighteen more economy size wheelbarrow loads to no avail. The crack was still as empty as it was when I started. In fact, it seemed like the crack was a little wider than it was when I started.
I walked back toward the house, leaned my shovel against the wall and started to slide the patio door open when I heard that growling sound again. I turned and looked just in time to see something jerk back down into the crack. OK, I really am cracking up now; I thought.
I'll call the city about the crack tomorrow; it's probably a collapsed sewer line underground or something, I told my wife on the phone; she had called to tell me she would be working late.
Pepper was whining to be let out so I opened the patio door and she ran out. I went into the kitchen to make a sandwich. I heard Pepper barking ferociously; I looked out of the kitchen window, she was barking at the crack. There's something in that crack; I thought.
It was almost dark; I switched on the bright flood lights as I exited the patio door. Pepper was still barking and growling even more violently now. I picked up the shovel as I started toward the crack. I made it about halfway across the yard when Pepper began to cry out in pain; I froze. A spindly fingered hand with long claws had her by the leg, it pulled her into the crack. Her cries were hideous as her tail disappeared into the crack. Pepper! I cried. I ran toward the crack which was now at least two feet wide.
As I neared the now widened crack the creature rose up, the rat terrier's tale still dangling limply from it's mouth. A cold shiver went up my spine and goosebumps covered my body. It was a somewhat humanoid head covered in reptilian like dull greenish brown scales, but It's eyes were unnatural bright yellow circles with brilliant L.E.D. like red dots for pupils. I jammed the shovel into it's face; green blood poured out; the creature hissed then made a sound as if it might have been choking our dog. I stabbed at the creature again, more green blood poured; the shovel was bubbling and smoking as if it were being eaten away by acid.
I ran, slammed the patio door, locked it, and closed the blinds. I ran to our bedroom grabbed our “bug out” bag from the closet. I heard a crash from the den; I grabbed my 9mm pistol from my bedside table drawer.
I shot three of the creatures, it took several rounds to put each one down. Through the broken door I could see more coming. My wife was just pulling into the driveway when I came screaming out of the house duffel bag in one hand pistol in the other; she thought I'd gone crazy until one of creatures burst through the solid oak front door. As we sped away the earth began to shake.
A vast sinkhole now occupies the space where our house stood. The city engineer says it is due to underground geology, but we know better.