Don't Look Under Your Bed

Oliver woke with a start to someone calling his name. Was it his parents? Maybe it was from his dream. His room was pitch black from the midnight darkness and he lay quietly, listening for the voice. A faint scratchy whisper drifted up to his ears.

"Oliverrrrr. Oliverrrrr," the voice spoke. Oliver shivered. Was he still dreaming? The voice sounded like it came from directly under him. Oliver wrapped the covers protectively around him and peered over his bed. "Oliverrrrrrr," the voice continued. The night surrounded Oliver in darkness, so it was difficult for him to see. Suddenly, a scraping noise followed the voice. It sounded of nails, scraping against his wooden floor. 

Oliver had enough of this terror. He threw the bedsheets off of him, grabbed his lucky bear, and sprinted downstairs.

"Daddy! Daddy!" he yelled. His parents sat on the sofa watching TV. 

"Buddy, what is it?" his dad asked, concerned, as Oliver jumped onto the sofa.

"I'm scared and I think a monster is under my bed and it keeps saying my name and I can't see anything and I’m really really scared," Oliver babbled, clutching his bear tight.

His dad shared a look with his mom, while his mom scooted closer to Oliver. "Monsters don't exist, honey," she says, smoothing his hair away from his face. His dad lifts Oliver up and places him on his lap.

"Oliver, how about this. I'll check your room for monsters and then you'll see that nothing is in your room. Will you be okay then?"

Oliver nods and grabs his dad's hand, dragging him upstairs. His dad proceeds to turn on Oliver’s bedroom light, looking through his closet, under his desk, and under his bed.

"See, kiddo. Nothing in here but us," his dad said. "Now let's tuck you in and get you to sleep."

Oliver felt more relieved. He knew his dad would tell him if he found a monster. It was probably his imagination. He was probably just half sleeping.

Oliver crawled into his bed, while his dad kissed him goodnight, turning off the lights and closing the door. Oliver lay in bed for a long time and began to doze off, when he heard it again. The same awful scratchy voice coming from underneath his bed. "Oliverrrr..."

Oliver hid underneath his covers. What should he do? He wanted to believe his parents when they told him monsters weren't real. Why would they lie to him? Oliver knew there was only one way to prove it. He had to see for himself.

Oliver sucked in as much courage as he could muster, grabbed his lucky bear, and climbed out of bed. He lay on the ground and peered underneath his bed, but darkness covered his sight. The voice spoke again, but it sounded farther away. Distant. Maybe if he crawled further under the bed, he would be able to find that voice.

Oliver used his elbows to begin to inch forward underneath his bed.

Suddenly, he began to fall.

Tumbling into oblivion.

He didn't know which way was up. Right was left. Up was down.

He kept spinning and spinning and spinning. A terrifying darkness surrounded him. All he felt was the sensation of falling.

Down

Down

Down...

He didn't land with pain, but rather it felt like landing on foam. His mind was still spinning and he squeezed his eyes shut. Be brave. Be brave. Be brave.

Oliver took a deep breath and sat up, clutching his bear, and looked at his surroundings. He was surrounded by trees, but these trees were different from any he had ever seen. The trees were encased with cobwebs and most of them appeared dead. Their bark was peeling and the leaves were non-existent. The ground was a spongy material that felt of foam. The full moon was the only source of light in the inky darkness that engulfed him. 

Oliver walked around, searching for anything that would help him understand where he was. As he was walking, he heard that same voice again.

"Oliverrrr..."  the voice whistled through the air.

Oliver looked at the trees, trying to find the caller. Whoever was calling him must know where he is and probably knew how to get home. 

With smug determination, Oliver followed that voice. He tore through the dead forest around him and listened to the scratchy voice calling out to him. He ran and ran and ran, his bare feet sprinting on the squishy ground. The voice finally led Oliver to a house. 

Smoke blew from the stone chimney and the house was composed of an auburn wood. There were no windows on the house, and a single stone pathway led to the large front door. 

Oliver ambled towards the door and put his small, sweaty hand on the metal doorknob. Taking a deep breath, he turned the doorknob and pushed open the door. His jaw dropped from the scene that lay before him. 

Creatures of all different shades, textures, and colors sat around a rectangular wooden table with a fire roaring at the end of the room. Some of the creatures were covered with fur and others were scaly like a snake. Some had claws as long as his hand, others had paws like a bear. Some had sharp, frightening fangs and others were toothless. 

“Oliver, we are so happy you can join us,” one of the creatures spoke. Oliver recognized the scratchy voice. It was the creature that called him here. The creature stood up and sauntered over to him. He was covered with a deep olive green fur and his hands were the size of Oliver’s head. He had long, sharp claws and stood on two enormous legs. His teeth were pointy, with a murky yellow color. His large eyes were wide and his black pupils were as dark and endless as the night. 

Towering over Oliver, he spoke. “Oliver, please, join us. We were just starting our dinner,” he says, gesturing to an empty chair. 

Oliver cautiously walks over to the chair, and sits down on the edge of it. All of the creatures around him stare silently as he sits. 

“I wanna go home,” he whimpered to the monster. “Can you help me get home?”

“Of course, of course,” the beast says. “But why don’t you stay for dinner? You’ve come all this way and we would hate to kick you out. Stay a little bit, and then I’ll take you home,” the monster grinned with his rotten teeth. Saliva dribbled down his lip. 

Oliver gulped and looked down at the table. He just now noticed the loads of food stacked on top of the table. Turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, fruit, cheese, hamburgers, french fries, ice cream. He had never seen so much food in his life.

The beast that spoke started spooning every possible option onto Oliver’s plate. Once the monster finished and sat down in his seat, the other creatures broke their stare from Oliver and started spooning food onto their plates. 

Oliver picked up the fork that sat next to him and tasted the ice cream on his plate. Mint chocolate chip. His favorite. 

Now that the monsters no longer stared at him, he felt giddy. These were nice monsters, he thought. Why would they feed him his favorite food if they were bad monsters?

Oliver soon forgot about where he was and started gobbling up every morsel on his plate. Once he was finished, he realized that the monsters weren't eating their food. They were staring at him again. 

Oliver felt the nervousness and uncertainty return. He clutched his lucky bear harder. He shifted in his chair and pretended not to notice the stares. His gaze moved around the room to avoid eye contact with the hideous beasts until something caught his eye. He froze. Sweat slid down his neck and his hands started shaking. 

On the top of the very high ceiling was a chandelier. Human skeletons decorated the chandelier, with their hands attached to the outside, their legs dangling in the air, forming a circle around it.    Oliver jumped out of his seat and his breathing became labored. He started backing away from the table. 

“Please, just let me go home,” Oliver whimpered. 

The monsters continued their cruel gaze and the creature that spoke, grinned. 

“We will let you go,” the creature smirked with his jagged teeth. “After we have our dinner.”

“No!” Oliver sprinted towards the door. He didn’t care if he didn’t know how to get home. He just needed to get out of this house. He reached the door and with a sweaty hand clutched the doorknob. He flew the door open and felt a flash of freedom until he felt a sudden thump on his head. 

Then, everything went black. 

 * * *

Oliver’s dad yawned, stretching out his arms. A wave of exhaustion swept over him and he just wanted to go to sleep. Kissing his wife on the head and telling her he was heading to bed, he meandered out of the living room and towards his bedroom. 

He should probably check on Oliver before bed, he thought. Just to make sure he fell asleep after having that nightmare.

Oliver’s dad sauntered up the stairs and cracked open Oliver's door. Oliver lay in what seemed to be an enormous bundle of sheets and blankets, with even his head covered. His teddy bear lay next to him. His dad smiled, thinking the extra blankets were Oliver's way of protecting himself from his imaginary monster. He silently closed the door.

What he didn't seem to notice was the olive green fur that peaked out from under the sheets.

The monster reached a hand out from under the sheets and snatched the teddy bear that was next to him. He grinned to himself, licking his lips.

He couldn't wait for breakfast.