Childhood Nightmares; Childhood Heroes

I can hear it breathing at night, just when I’m on the verge of sleep.

My eyes dart open, peering into the dark, yawning abyss that is my room at night. My heart is thundering inside my chest and I clutch Sir Teddy tight to my chest. I squeeze my eyes shut as tight as I can and hold my breath. I can hear it moving, though it’s quiet.

The sound is like the slithering of a snake.

It is slipping from under my bed.

My eyes are closed, but I know that it’s standing at the end of my bed now.

I can feel it watching me. Waiting. Deciding.

Will tonight be the night?

I feel like I’m frozen. Pinned to my bed by the single, cyclops eye I always imagined the monster to have. In my arms, Sir Teddy is soft and comforting. He has been trained by the best of the best to defeat monsters, but I’m still afraid.

What if Sir Teddy’s not enough?

I make a decision right then and there to add more knights to the round table.

My thoughts blank as the monster creeps around the bed. It is now standing right next to my head. My throat runs dry and I imagine the glass of water that is sitting just outside of the bed’s safety zone. The monster is too close to risk anything, though.

Sir Teddy wiggles his way out of my arms and tugs the blankets up over my head. I can hear the monster growling, it’s long, long fingernails scraping against my headboard. My mother’s voice echoes inside my head: “As long as you don’t move, the monster won’t get you.”

But there is an itch on the tip of my nose.

I move my arm and the monster lunges.

Sir Teddy attacks.

I scream.

My door bangs open and the light flicks on.

“Natasha!”

I fling back the cover, launching myself at my mother.

She envelops me into a hug, whispering words that don’t make much sense, but help calm me down anyway.

“The monster! The monster!”

“There is no monster,” she says. “See?”

She points around my room and she’s right. There is no monster.

There is only Sir Teddy sitting in the middle of the room.

Reviews

[matrixmark]

Gripping beggining that made me want to read more. Such a cool little story and was despearte to see then ending. Loved the ted being her protector, herkight in shining armour.

Really cool short story - reminded me of my early days.

Mark.

[Daniel Seward]

So did Sir Teddy take out the monster or was he flung there by Natasha? I choose to believe that Sir Teddy came to the rescue and defeated the monster and that it went back under the bed before mother opened the door. Good little story! Thanks, Dan

[Sam]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.