We Put Them There

Bump. Bump. BUMP!

The sound woke you up. But the thump underneath against your mattress keeps you up.
What was that?

Your heart races, you scan the room in the darkness. Your eyes dart, trying to discover things out of place.

Nothing.

All your toys are where you left them. You can hear yourself breathe. Still, something woke you up. Something under your bed.

Should you look under there? Maybe yell for your mom or dad? You consider the first until you imagine leaning over the edge and arms shooting from below and dragging you in with them.

Then, you think it’s only a bad dream. Go back to sleep. Your pulse slows as you lay down, and your head sinks in the pillow. Your imagining of scary things fends off sleep, but then your heavy eyes shut.

Creeeeeeeeeeek, creek, creek.

The sound wakes you up. You remember the thump and sit up. You’re in the dark again, looking for the cause of the creaky noise. Your closet is open.

Squinting, you stare in the dark closet, trying to see if anything is inside watching, waiting in there for you. You see a hand come from the closet and smack on the floor!

Your heart jumps out of your chest. All your hair stands on end, and you jump from the bed. You run down the hall and jump into your parents bed and scream. “Somethings in my closet and under my bed!”

The sleeping forms of your parents both sit bolt upright. You see their faces.

First, you notice the yellow eyes and red pupils and oozy, slimy green scaly skin. Then you see black, wet stringy hair falling over the brown and jagged yellow teeth covered in dripping saliva in mouths that stretch across their hideous faces.

In unison, they open their mouths and say, “We know, we put them there.”