Imagine

Imagine

I prepared myself for another night of hiding and crawled into my bed.

“Sweet dreams,” my mom said gently. She was peeking through a crack in the door, letting through the last sliver of comfort.

“Goodnight Mommy.” She closed the door and left me in darkness. I laid as flat as I could so as to not be detected. I was quiet and my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Slowly looking around my room for threats, I realized that I left my closet door open. How could I be so naive? Everyone knows the closet is the most likely place for monsters to be! I shut my eyes hard and slowly rolled into the nook between my bed and my wall, but I quickly realized that the monsters underneath my bed could easily snake their hands up the wall to reach me. My only option was to curl in a ball at the bottom of my bed. Maybe the monsters south think that it’s a dog with which they would have no business. Just a lump under the covers, I peeked out from underneath. My eyes hurt from being open so wide but I refused to close them as I might become vulnerable. I heard a creak. Growing closer in the hall and the panic started to set in.

The next morning I devised a plan. I would lure the monster out of my closet and into a trap! I would be ready to fight it. After supper I grabbed a knife. I couldn't reach the sharp ones so a butter knife would have to do. It wasn’t very sharp but I figured that with enough force it would suffice. My mom said goodnight one last time and I assumed the position. I gripped the knife underneath the covers. Face down, I was spread as thin as possible. For a while I was still, waiting for the first sign of movement. This time I left my closet door open on purpose and I didn’t take my eyes off it. Blinking at most twice a minute.

A small creak began to build. Echoing in my head, my eyes widened as the closet door was thinning, the darkness expanding. Panic started to simmer in my stomach, but I was left hungry.