Butterscotch the Brave

Not so long ago and not so far away there lived a knight: Butterscotch the Brave. At first glance, he appeared unimpressive and his only defining features were his namesake butterscotch-coloured curls. He was not particularly muscly, nor was he exceptionally tall (in fact, he was slightly shorter than average), but his loyalty and big heart were second-to-none - matched only by his bravery. The night Butterscotch’s bravery was born began in a place few would expect: a child’s bedroom. 

In the quiet dark of her bedroom atop her messy blankets sat Bella, a scared, wide-eyed girl of about six years old. She was woken from her slumber by a slow, uneven scratching sound beneath her bed. From his vantage point on the floor, Butterscotch thought he saw a shadow - blacker than black - shift beneath the bed frame. Focusing on it instead of the girl, he watched for any more signs of movement and was oblivious to the girl’s shudders. 

Nothing moved for a long time, and the only sounds Butterscotch could hear were his friend’s shaky and shallow breaths. He was tired and glanced at Bella before his eyelids began to droop. Then, a barely noticeable, shadowy tentacle poked out from beneath the bed and began snaking its way up her mattress. The girl’s mouth opened in voiceless terror as more of the monster emerged silently from its hiding place. It towered above Bella as she sank back into the corner of her bed and tried to hide beneath her covers. In the thin beams of moonlight that shone through her blinds, she could see multiple tentacles and a large head full of razor-sharp teeth and multiple deep yellow slits for eyes. 

Butterscotch hadn’t started dreaming yet when he heard a small whimper from the bed. He jolted awake and his eyes widened in alarm when he realized what he was staring at. He had heard about shadow monsters; they preyed on children’s fear until they grew big enough and solid enough to be seen in the daylight - and by then, they were nearly impossible to stop. 

Rising quickly to his feet, he scanned the room for anything he could use to fight the monster, until his eyes landed on the toy sword he had seen Bella playing with earlier in the day. He raced towards it, hoping that a toy sword would be strong enough to defeat a shadow monster. Butterscotch reached for it and watched in amazement as the toy blade became a real one when he picked it up. 

As the monster turned to face Bella and Butterscotch turned to face the monster, he saw several fluffy somethings catapulted off of the last tentacle the shadowy figure pulled out from under the bed. To his surprise, when the tiny clumps of dust landed, they looked like bunnies.

The dust bunnies regrouped to form a new plan of attack when one called out to Butterscotch, “Are you with us or against us?”

Butterscotch blinked. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing - or hearing. Dust bunnies were real?!

Glancing from the monster to the bunnies, he replied, “I’m with whoever will help me protect my friend from the monster.”

The top bunny (also known as the bunny in charge) responded, “Let us help. We can distract it!”

The bunnies huddled, then spread out. Their plan was simple: rush the shadow monster. Springing into action, the dust bunnies charged across the floor, yelling at the top of their tiny lungs. Joined by reinforcements from under the bed as they approached the looming shadow, the rapidly multiplying critters swarmed the shadow, and crawled up its towering body. It wasn’t until they reached its shoulders that the monster noticed them and turned away from Bella, who was as white as a sheet. 

Butterscotch saw his chance and took it. He raced toward the nearest tentacle, sword held high, and swung when he reached it, cutting off part of a tentacle. The monster let out a low, surprised growl and turned to face its attacker. As he watched the menacing figure before him, Butterscotch barely had time to brace himself before a different tentacle sent him flying. He landed with a hard thud and scrambled to his feet, ready to attack, but the monster was distracted now, and trying to dislodge the dust bunnies that desperately clung to it.

Some of the bunnies that fell to the floor ran to Butterscotch, and the littlest one spoke up in a tiny voice, “Sir, you don’t have any armour to protect you! We can help you!” 

Before Butterscotch could react, he was covered in dust bunnies that morphed into armour. He didn’t think armour made of dust could be very strong, but when another tentacle slammed into him, he stayed standing and hardly felt a thing. Fighting the shadow monster would be easy now!

Swinging his sword once again, Butterscotch charged the monster, and again, he cut off a tentacle. The shadow shrieked in pain - and shrunk. Every time Butterscotch hit the shadow with his sword or cut off another tentacle, it shrank, until it was not much bigger than the top dust bunny. At that point, the monster realized it was beaten, and it slithered up the wall and out the window before it was hit again.

A cacophony of tiny cheers erupted from the army of dust bunnies, and Butterscotch’s armour morphed back into more dust bunnies. He smiled and looked at Bella on her bed, and she looked more amazed than scared now. Slowly, the girl crawled to the edge of her bed and stepped onto the floor. Then, she ran towards Butterscotch and hugged him. The sword fell to the floor and became a regular toy again when Bella picked Butterscotch up, crushing him in her arms. 

“You’re the best teddy bear ever, Butterscotch!” she squealed in delight. She was still beaming when she looked down at the dust bunnies and said, “And I am never cleaning under my bed again!”