The mystery of the kitchen poltergeist

During the summer, I spend a lot of time drinking ice water, so I spend a lot of time opening and closing the freezer door. Today, I noticed that when I closed the freezer door, there was a weird sound. A metallic rustling-clattering. I couldn't hazard a guess as to what it might be. The fridge was still cooling things all right; the freezer was still freezing things all right; I couldn't think of anything I'd done to the freezer recently. I inched the fridge out a little bit, but then I realized I didn't have the energy to bother with moving it all the way out, cleaning behind it, and moving it all the way back. (If I move the fridge more than an inch or two out of its corner, I trap myself in the kitchen.)

However, I began to panic. If there was something wrong with my fridge -- if my freezer needed to be replaced -- would I be able to argue my landlord into it? How long would it take? Would it be impossible to schedule a day when I would be home so that they could deliver a new one? Would they fail to come on the scheduled day and then I would have to take even more days off?

(Keep in mind, these things look like anxiety!worries, but... I know what landlords are like, and these worries are also completely realistic.)

But, you know, my fridge was still cooling things, so I decided to ignore it for now.

Tonight, I went to put another tray of ice cubes in the freezer. As I closed the door, I heard that horrible rustling-clattering.

My eyes went to the top of the freezer. To the opened plastic bag of rice sitting on top of the freezer.

And suddenly I realized that horrible rustling-clattering is exactly the sound of a handful of rice, jostled by the closing of a freezer door, falling out of their plastic bag and onto a tile floor.