Goodnight Stephen

A Story by Chase Wolff

Follows an 11 year old boy's fears throughout the night.

Outside his bay, the clouds cover the black sky. 1 AM struck the clock. Stephen laid upon his bed, waiting for the night to pass. His eyes scampered from one side of his room to the other, as he silently panicked.

"There are no monsters under your bed..." his dad told him all those years ago. "They aren't in your closet either." And he was right. There was not.

The eyes, they stare. A blank expression rests upon it's face, as it sits seemingly still. 2 AM marks the clock. Stephen remains without rest. He makes momentarily eye contact, before poking his head under his blanket.

"Nothing inside the sheets wants to bite you, Stephen." Stephen's father assured. "Nor is there anything crawling on the ceiling, bud." And correct he was. There wasn't a single thing.

Closer it seems, yet quite far away, his hungry desire escalates. 3 AM the clock reads. Stephen stands out of bed, his pillow hanging just below his eyes. He watches, guarding his bed, his hairs upon his neck began to rise.

"Don't worry about the shadows, nothing lives within." Explained Stephen's father. "Not even on there floor, for there is nothing to be concerned." Exactly as is. Nothing was there.

It began its advance, a scratch etched across the wall. The clock hit 4 AM. Stephen cowered under his blankets at the furthermost corner of his bed. He was distressed to look, even just a glance.

"It is time for bed, Stephen." Stephen's father told. "You'll be okay, I promise." He couldn't be more wrong. Nothing will be okay.

The thump of footsteps halt at the foot of Stephen's bed, silence spreads throughout. 5 AM chimed the clock. Stephen is asleep, peacefully resting, his teddy bear in his arms. The shadows of it's famine prepared to feast.

"Are you really that frightened?" Questioned Stephen's father. " I'll stay with you for the night." He kept his promise.

On the bed he holds, waiting with an impatient grin. 6 AM strikes upon the clock. Stephen awoke to find himself tied and blindfolded, overwhelmed by panic. He laid unclothed, and felt the sensation of the monster touch him ever so gently.

"Don't worry about a thing my child." Stephen's father grinned. "Daddy will please you, tonight" And that, he did not.

End.