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15:45, 23 Oct 2015
In the house of the monster

There’s a monster under my bed, but he’s not that bad. He just lays there in the dark among the dust bunnies, his ragged breathing almost wounded, his red eyes, almost teary. I met him once when Dad came home in a rage. I heard him come in when he slammed the door and before long, I heard him coming for me. I hid under the bed.

The monster said, “Stay quiet, hide back here in the dark corner; he can’t reach us here.”

Never believe a monster. They lie. Sometimes I think they just want you to get caught. At first, it worked. Dad came in and threw off the covers. He screamed my name and went looking for me in the bathroom. I heard him stomping all over the house until he came back, madder than ever.
He grabbed the mattress and threw it against the wall. He tossed the box springs the other way. There I was, between the slats, an the monster nowhere to be found. Where’s a monster when you need him.

Dad grabbed my leg and pulled me out, but tripped and fell backwards onto the mattress. I jumped up and ran. It took him a while to get up and I had time to get out of the house. I ran outside and locked myself in the car, lying on the floor in the back seat. He came out with a flashlight and found me, but forgot his keys. He roared and beat on the roof of the car with his fists. When he ran back in, I opened the door and ran for the woods.

Nights were just starting to get cold, the first few frosts had brought down most of the leaves. I found a spot between some fallen trees and buried myself in the leaves. I heard him come back out and shout my name. I heard him roam the property, search all the shed and then come down the path near where I lay. His feet threw leaves on top of the pile where I had hidden.

“I’m going to fuckin’ kill you when I get my hands on you,” he screamed.

An hour later, he passed me on the way back. He was mumbling something about how the night out in the cold would do me good. When he went back in the house, I climbed back in the car. Later, Mom came out and let me back in. He had gone to sleep and she had put my bed back the way it was.

“You all right?” the monster asked.

“No thanks to you.” I said.