Chirp, Chee, Chirp

Timothy’s mother said goodnight, turned out the light, and closed the door. He lay awake in his bed in the dark. The sound of the trees blowing in the wind outside kept him awake just long enough to hear his mother flush the toilet before she retired.  

It had been a year since his father passed away. Timothy had what some would describe as a comfortable lower middle class life, but at the age of five none of that was his concern. He cared more for Legos and stuffed animals than he did anything else but that evening he was thinking about how the kids at school had been particularly rough on him since he was the only one in his class whose father had not come to career day. His mother could have made an appearance but her job was nothing more than a fast food manager. Even at his age he knew it wasn't glorious. She would come home some days worn out, hunched over, and barely able to carry on a conversation as she made him dinner. But still none of that even mattered as he lay there in bed.

Thirty seconds after the toilet flushed he heard his mother's bedroom door close followed by her phone landing on the nightstand ever so softly. A neighborhood dog could be heard barking in the distance—Suddenly there was a rustling. His eyes, which were only half closed, opened wide. He swore he’d heard something under his bed. He shook as goosebumps ran down his body. The shadows in his room danced around. Some of which were those of the leaves outside still on the trees. A late fall it was that year. Others he did not know at his age. One was the five and a half foot tall stuffed bear his father had won at the county fair. Another was—And he heard the rustling again.

"Mom," he cried out to no avail. The house was silent. "Mom," he cried again.

The sound of her bedroom door, her feet on the wood floor, and there she was.

"Yes, my dear?" Timothy’s mother answered.

"There's something under my bed," he said.

"Hun, we go through this every night. There is never anything under your bed."

"But I heard something."

"I'm sure it was the trees outside."

"Just look," he pleaded.

She looked to appease Timothy. Halfway under the bed she spotted two eyes looking at her. She jumped hitting her head and on the bed frame. Before her were two eyes that were surrounded by a green ball of fluff about the size of a small puppy. It stood there staring at her with the two beady little eyes and its weird floppy ears and what appeared to be a tongue hanging out between the sharpest teeth she'd ever seen.

 It was a baby monster.

Never before had she missed her late husband that much. He would have known what to do. He'd dealt with things like this during his years in The Space Federation. He would have immediately known. True intelligent extraterrestrial life had not yet been contacted but that does not mean they hadn't landed several men on several different planets outside the solar system.

“Where did you come from?” she asked cautiously.

The creature gave no reply.

Timothy’s mother coaxed the cute little monster out from under the bed and picked it up. Holding it in her palms, she tried to show timothy, but he was cowering under the covers. The monster shivered as if it was cold. Timothy’s mother took a step close to the lump under the covers and said, “Timothy the little fella is scared too. You should look at it, it’s adorable.” 

Timothy peeked out from under his blankets. Suddenly the little monster made the cutest sound they had ever heard, chirp, chee, chirp, while hopping up and down in Timothy’s mother’s hand.  

Timothy’s interest seemed to pique. He got out of bed to get a better look. 

 “Can we keep it mom?” he asked.

“Do you want to stay with us little guy?” Timothy’s mother asked the little monster.

“Chirp, chee,” it said as it jumped into Timothy’s red hair.

Timothy’s squeal was somewhere between delight and shock, causing the little guy jump again and chirp louder than before. Timothy began to laugh. Timothy’s mother tried to remove it from Timothy’s hair but the little monster must have thought it he’d found a nest as it tried to settle in. 

Timothy’s mother ran to the linen closet to get some towels while Timothy sat with the little monster on his head chirping.  When she returned she asked if timothy knew where his clown wig was. Timothy pointed to his closet. She opened the door and pulled out the wig then took the towels and made a little bed across the room using the wig. She picked the monster up out of Timothy’s hair and moved it to the makeshift nest in the corner and just to be safe she slept in Timothy’s room until they got up the next morning.

When they awoke the little monster was hopping around the room chirping. Chirp, chee, chirp. It seemed louder more desperate. Timothy thought it must be hungry.

“Mom what can we feed it?”

“I don’t know honey, all we have is some fruit in the fridge.”

“Can we try that mom?”

“Ok but he’s going to get bigger. And we don’t know what he’ll want to ear. Maybe we should find out where it came from. He might want to go home.”

“But I wanna keep it.”

Pondering what Timothy had said she helped him fed the little guy raspberries and blackberries which quieted it for a moment before it began chirping again. This time it was the same happy sound they had heard last night. Timothy giggled with glee as his mother’s heart sank. She had made her decision.

Timothy and her mother got to the car with the monster. His mother buckled him in the back seat then placed the little guy on his lap. Checking the review mirror she could see how happy the two were together as she backed the car out of the driveway. She knew what was ahead.

Timothy was crying because he didn’t want to lose his new friend. After some walking they heard a familiar sound. Soon they spotted hundreds of other fluff balls by a wrecked ship. The chirping grew louder as they neared the clearing in the trees. The sound was beautiful. Timothy’s new friend began chirping. Timothy placed the monster on the ground. It seemed to recognize the other creatures, but wouldn’t go over to them. Instead it turned and looked at Timothy. Timothy began crying. He didn’t want his new friend to go.

Timothy’s mother couldn’t bear to separate them. If it ate berries and stayed this small, she thought, then it might be a good companion for her son. Maybe they could keep it after all. 

She knelt. “What would you like to name him, Timothy?”

“But you’re making him go away.”

She wiped the tear from his cheek. “You can keep it. If it wants to stay with us.”

“We can keep him?” He sniffled as his eyes smiled.

Timothy’s mother looked at the little guy in her son’s arms. “Do you want to live with us, little guy?”

It began chirping once more. Chirp, chee, chirp.

Timothy’s face lit up. “Can we name him Chirpy?”

His mother continued looking at the little green monster, “Would you like that little fella?”

Chirp, chee, chirp.