The Slithering Shadow

I was checking the shadowed alcove behind the audio receiver when a slick, glossy black tendril suddenly curled right across the wooden floorboards! You kept warning me that the black goo would creep up from behind to envelop me, so my reflexes took over instantly. I leaped backward, planting one boot on a heavy copper binding post and bracing my palms against the cool metal casing of the amplifier. I crouched low, eyeing the shifting dark form—until I realized it was just a loose, coiled black rubber headphone cable slowly uncoiling under its own tension. No alien bond tonight, just an unruly cord that desperately needs a twist tie!