I tied for 2nd place in a contest with this story. The image prompt was M.C. Escher's painting "Relativity." I can't post the image here for copyright reasons, but if you follow this link you can see it. The painting is of stairs going every which a way and faceless people walking, sitting, etc among the stairs. That inspired this story...
If Only the Walls Could Talk
“Did you call the exterminator?”
“Yes, Matilda,” Charles sighed.
He watched her frantic pace around the room. He’d always known Matilda was high-strung, but this exterminator business was taking the cake.
“He said he’d be here sometime today,” Charles told her, again. “Why the big hurry? I’ve never known you to be scared of mice.”
“We’ve never had mice that talk before!”
Charles almost choked on his coffee. “What?”
“I heard them earlier, right before I tripped over another basket that was somewhere I hadn’t left it!”
“Not the baskets again,” he moaned.
“Yes, the baskets again!” Matilda screamed. “The show up all over the place instead of in the laundry where I leave them.”
Charles dialed the phone.
“You calling him again?”
“No, I’m calling Dr. Blake. You need a psychiatrist not an exterminator!”
