The Closet: night one

A Story by Tyler Cox

NIGHT ONE

"Dad." I whimper.

"Yes Jeremy?"

"Can you check the closet again?" Sighing Dad complies to check the closet.

"For the last time monsters do not live in your closet. This will be the last time. You are eight years old, this is getting out of hand." Dad opens the door, slowly. I waited, the tension building. My bed is opposite the closet door. My dresser to the left, racks of things, movies, and books to the right. The bedroom is not exactly a square; the length is just a little bit longer.

"Whew." I say when there is no sign of a monster. After Dad left i drifted into a fitful sleep. My dream consisted of a creature with blood-caked horns, a boneless body so it can get in to nooks and crannies, but it is still crazy strong. It would have talons-not claws- that were two feet long. It's face changed from one horrifying face to another. Each one worst than the last. I woke in a cold sweat. Wait. What was that? I could have sworn that I just saw the creature from my dream, silhouetted by the window near my dresser. Something that was not in my dream was its eyes. They glowed with such an intense red that made my veins feel as though they were filled with ice. My best interpretation of them would be to compare them to heat lamps. it was not like when people say "I felt that person staring at me." I actually felt it, an insane heat radiating from the creature's pupils. The heat threatened to sear my eyebrows right off my face. Then I blinked and it was gone, as if it were never there. It still bugged me but-with it being the middle of the night and all- I thought no more of it. At least not for the rest of the night. That morning during breakfast I did not mention it to Dad.