THE BOY WHO CRIED MONSTER: By Dan Duritsa
Monday, August 23rd, 2010“Mooommm!” Wes screamed. “Come quick, he’s back.”
Wes sat in the middle of his bed gripping tightly at his Transformers bed sheet. It was the middle of the night and his bedroom was pitch black. He missed having the small nightlite that used to be plugged intothe wall next to his bed.
His mother decided several months ago to get rid of it because at eleven years old, she thought that he was too old for it. Wes waited in anticipation for his mother to bolt through the door and scoop him up in her arms and comfort him.
Instead the doorknob turned and the door was pushed open slowly. Wes’ mother, Karen, leaned up against the door frame, arms crossed giving her son a weary eyed look. The beam from the overhead hallway light behind her shone into the room across Wes’ face.
“Let me guess. There’s a monster under your bed?”
“Uh-huh,” Wes shook his head up and down.
“Wes, listen to me very carefully, you need to get over this scared-of-the-dark crap. You’re a big boy now and you need to start acting like one. Okay?”
“I know mom, but-”
“What did I just tell you?” Karen said raising her voice. Karen walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. She put her arm around his shoulder and comforted him.
“Wes, you’ve been acting this way almost every night for the past couple of weeks. Every time I go to look under the bed you say, ‘Don’t look under the bed or he’ll get you.’ So, again I ask, “What can I do to help?”
“We need to move out of this house.” Wes insisted.“There is nothing wrong with this house it’s perfectly fine. Look, we need to get some sleep because I need to go to work tomorrow and you have school.
“Okay mom,” he said, disappointed. Karen laid him down, tucked him into bed and kissed him on the forehead.“I love you, hon.” she told him.
“Love you too mom.”
She left the room and shut the door behind her. Wes listened to her footsteps fade away as he sat staring at the ceiling. A few seconds later, he heard scratching sounds coming from underneath the bed. Growling noises also came from underneath as the scratching became louder. From the sound of the noises, Wes could tell that the monster was becoming very impatient and would attack at any second. His safety was dwindling a little more each night. Wes sat straight up with excitement as his bedroom door flew open.
“Wesley!” his mother yelled. Karen never called him by his full name unless she was furious with him. “I told you to go to sleep. I don’t find the noises you’re making very funny.”
“It wasn’t me, I swear.” he said.“Enough!” she snapped.
Karen squatted down next to the bed. “I’m looking under here to show you that there is no-”A large slimy hand readched out and grabbed Karen’s head. The palm of the hand pushed into her face while the long boney fingers wrapped completely around her head. Huge black talons dug deep into the back of her skull. Wes covered his ears and shut his eyes. He could still hear the sound of her muffled cries as the large hand crushed her head like a watermelon.
Karen’s feet twitched against the hard floor as she was pulled underneath the bed.
When the room went quiet, Wes peeked over the side of the bed. He could see a thick, dark pool of blood seeping out from under the bed. Wes shook his head.
“See mom, I told you not to look under the bed.”
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©2010 Dan Durista
Dan Duritsa is and has been an avid horror fan since childhood. He has written several short stories and flash fiction with many more in progress. He currently resides in Morgantown, WV.
