Chapter 1: Playtime

"Tawny!" Hamlet called out. He didn't have to wait long before the door to the room opened and the light from the allway pierced through the room. Only Hamlet's face could be seen above the blanket. Tawny tilted her head to the side, bemused and put her hands on her hips.

 

"Ham...don't tell me your scared again." He said nothing but crept out from behind the covers the smallest amount. Tawny sighed and approached the bed, sitting at his side. He withdrew a hand from beneath the covers, offering it to her and smiling when she took it. 

 

"Ham, we talked about this." she said. "Monsters again?"

 

He nodded and motioned towards the closet. "From the closet this time."

 

She followed his gaze and pointed. "Over there? What did you see this time?"

 

He stammered, "I don't know. Something shifted. I think I saw the door move."

 

She held her gaze on the door for just a moment before direction her attention back towards her little brother. "You're almost 9 Ham, its time for you to grow up. There's no such thing as monsters."

 

"But I know I saw something!" he protested. 

 

"Ham..." Tawny said warning her brother that her patience was wearing thin. "I can only coddle you so much. You have to grow up eventually."

 

He nodded solemnly and looked away from her. Tawny tried to brush away the look of guilt on her face and reached up to brush the curls out of his eyes. 

 

"I wish Dad was here Tawny." he said.

 

She tried not to look hurt. She was doing the best she could. "Would you feel safer if Dad were here?" she finally asked. 

 

He nodded and suddenly Tawny realized that she would feel safer if her Dad was here too. "Do you know what I think Ham?"

 

"What?" he asked.

 

"Dad would be really proud of how brave we are, but especially proud of how brave you are." she said. Even in the dimly lit room, she could see him smile.

 

"I think so too." 

 

She gave his hand a squeeze and stood up. "Now let's do this. Get some sleep." She strode away toward the door and closed it halfway before turning back around. "Ham, let me know if you see anything again okay?"

 

He nodded and she closed the door behind her with a soft click. The dark pit in Hamlet's belly came rushing back as quickly as the darkness that had enveloped the room. He pulled the blanket farther up, closer to his chin and scanned the room. 

 

He had definitely seen something, although the darkness had a tendency to play tricks on the eyes. It had come from the closet, the shadow moving behind the slits in the door. Something was whispering behind those shuttered doors in the darkness.

 

Or maybe it had been the bushes rustling outside against the window. The wind outside had been stirring to even greater tempos as the night wore on and every now and then a strong breeze would send the bushes scratching against the window pane. But Ham could identify that sound easily. It was the unsettling sound coming from behind the closet doors that had his attention. 

 

"You have to sleep" Ham thought to himself. "Its time to grow up and be brave."

 

Then he saw it. A definite movement in the closet. The door drifted open ever so slightly accompanied by a creak. Ham clutched the blanket tighter. It was hard to adjust his eyes to the darkness but there was a definite gap between the two doors. Suddenly, there was more movement and Hamlet tried to stop himself from gasping. Shadowy, bony fingers wrapped themselves around the door and a sinister head poked out from the gap in the door. 

 

Ham closed his eyes quickly when he saw the face appear, but the image was already emblazoned into his mind. The creature was small, maybe two feet in hight, with spiraling horns sprouting on both side of its head, just inside large drooping ears that doubled over sharply. A small crooked nose was sandwiched between two large yellow eyes the size of tangerines. It's dark purple limbs were long and sinewy, but as thin as twigs. It had peered around the door hunched over, crouching on its knuckles leering around the room.

 

Hamlet tried to control his pounding heart and chanced another glance. The monster was moving cautiously across the carpet, almost halfway between the bed and the closet now. Instead of screaming out, Hamlet tried to calm himself. "Just a little longer. Be brave."

 

The thing was picking up steam now, moving confidently across the carpet, making his way for the bed. At last, Hamlet couldn't wait any longer, satisfied that the creature had moved far enough away from the closet. He wrenched himself up quickly from the crouch and screamed. 

 

"Tawny! Now!"

 

Suddenly, several things happened all at the same time. The door was kicked open and Tawny reappeared, silhouetted in the doorway. She held two squirtguns at the ready and strode confidently into the room. The small monster froze and glanced in horror at the door, already turning around and making a break for the closet. 

 

"Oh no you don't!" Tawny screamed and let loose with the squirt guns." A torrent of liquid screamed across the room and made contact with the monster. It squealed as soon as the liquid his his skin and caused smoke to rise from the wound. The monster screamed and turned on its heel, changing course and diving under the bed. 

 

Hamlet had now emerged from the covers, completely clothed, "He's making a break for it! Get the flashlight!"

 

Before he could even finish the sentence, Tawny had dropped a squirt gun in favor for a heavy duty flashlight. She dropped to her knees and turned the powerful beam toward the underside of the bed. 

 

Hamlet smiled, "We got one!"

 

Tawny yelled, "We haven't caught anything yet, make sure you're ready with that bag!

 

"Did you get it?" a tiny voice said from the doorway. Tawny turned around to find a small boy peeking out from the hallway. 

 

"Terrance! Get back it isn't safe!" Tawny yelled and Terrance disappeared just as quickly as he appeared. 

 

From somewhere else in the house, a much louder voice said, "What in the blue blazes is going on down there!

 

Hamlet rolled his eyes, "Great, his parents are up."

 

Tawny adjusted the flashlight's beam under the bed. "Don't lose focus now. We have it on the ropes."

 

Hamlet turned around and reached under the pillow he had been trying to sleep over before. He drew out a large canvas bag and gripped it between his ever whitening knuckles. He dove to his knees at the edge of the bed and peered over the side with the canvas bag at the ready. The beam from Tawny's flashlight roved was scanning slowly from left to right. Hamlet's eyes darted back and forth, ready for any signs of movement but there was only silence to be found under the bed. 

 

"Do you see anything?" He whispered

 

Tawny's eyes had a hard time adjusting to the darkness. She took her time with the flashlight, combing each inch of the carpet beneath the bed. She had almost completed one full pass of the bed when two large feet hit the floor on the ceiling above them. 

 

They both looked up as Ham squealed frantically. "We have to hurry? Do you see anything?"

 

"I'm looking as fast as I can," she breathed, "I've already scanned the whole thing. It just disappeared."

 

"How did you lose it?" Ham yelled at her. "I saw it go under the bed."

 

"Shut up Ham!" She began to track the light back, quicker this time. There were loud footsteps behind her now, descending stairs quickly. She had almost moved the light completely back across the second time when she noticed a flicker of movement at the top of the beam. Twitching the light up, she caught the creature full in the face, finding it with its arms wrapped around the support beam under the bed. The monster hissed at her, dropping its grip on the bed and crashing to the floor. The creature scrambled up and bolted for daylight. 

 

"It's moving back to the closet Ham!" Tawny screamed. "2 o'clock!"

 

And Ham jumped quickly, almost an instant after the creature emerged from under the bed.   Ham popped the bag open like a parachute and descended on the creature as Tawny tried to focus the beam. In an instant it was over. The creature squawked as it disappeared beneath the canvas. Ham fumbled with the nylon dangling off the top of the bag, but managed to cinch it shut only moments before the creature's head emerged back out of the bag. 

 

For a brief moment, Tawny and Ham knelt in the darkness staring at each other, trying to let their breath catch up to them. "We did it Ham! We caught one!" Tawny rasped. 

 

Suddenly, light enveloped the room and they both blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the change. Terrance and his father stood framed in the doorway. He had a deep scowl set in his face. He took a moment to wipe his eyes before pointing directly at them. 

 

"You have alot of explaining to do." He growled. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Publication Date: 11-26-2014

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