behind you

sounds.

screeches and groans and the echoing sound of skittering claws.

my stomach twists. the night is dark, so dark. my parent's room is just down the hall, yet it seems miles away. and i doesn't dare to leave the bed- the monster might get me.

i can't pinpoint exactly where the noises are coming from, they're too chaotic, too overwhelming. but my guess is that the monster is under my bed. right where it can get to me.

a roar, and the frame of my bed rattles, nearly tossing me off. i grip the sheets until my hands turn white. i look from side to side, watching the wall, my eyes tracing the floor.

all of my stuffed animals are on my bookshelf, they can't protect me from there. all i can do is wait and hope that the scary noises will go away, that the monster won't kill me.

i want to have tomorrow.

minutes tick by, the red of my clock burning into my eyes.

the sounds go quiet.

legs trembling, i crawl out of bed. the silence, it hangs like a heavy fog. i stand by my bed, not moving.

the tension inside of me snaps, and i get down and look under my bed. there's nothing there, only a gap that shows the bottom of my bookshelf on the other side.

peace fills me. things will be okay.

and then there's one last sound.

the creak of the closet door opening.