Rude Awakening by Richard Lau

I never sleep well in unfamiliar places.

So, I made sure to look for a corpse underneath the motel bed, as oft-told in urban myth.

After violent nightmares, I awoke, paralysed with fear. The room was pitch black, and there was an awful stench in the air.

I heard the door lock click open. I tried and failed to cry out.

“Something stinks!” said a woman’s voice. “Get the manager! We are not staying in this room!”

Someone switched on the room light.

I was looking at the underside of the bed.

With me, the urban myth had come true.