Monsters!
Last month I wrote
"Do You Believe In Magic?", a story about my children and some magic sand I bought. The response was better than I expected and I was encouraged to write more stories like that one. This is another story about the kids.
HELP!
My children are eighteen months apart in age and, until my daughter was about five or six, they shared a room. This story takes place during the time they shared the room with an uninvited roommate. It all started one night after my wife and I put the kids to bed. We had settled in to watch some television and enjoy some "quiet time" when we heard someone cry out. We went down the hall to their room to find both of them awake and scared. Apparently there was a monster, maybe even more than one, under their beds.
My wife and I each looked under a bed only to discover that the monster had gone away. We looked all over - the closet, behind the dresser, behind the curtains, you name it and we looked. When everyone was satisfied that the monster was gone I gave a stern warning to any monsters thinking about visiting the kids. We said goodnight and left them, once again, for the Sandman.
The next night, shortly after saying goodnight we were informed that the monster had returned! It would seem that the monster did not take my warning seriously and decided to test me. Once again, we searched the entire room warning the monster the entire time. The cowardly monster had fled before we could catch him. The warning was repeated, everyone got tucked into bed and the Sandman cometh.
Do I have to tell you what happened the next night? The night after that and the night after that? This damned monster was really starting to become a nuisance! I had visions of this going on for a long time and had to find a way to put an end to it, but how? Have you ever found yourself in a predicament when suddenly the answer comes to you out of nowhere? Yea, it does not happen to me very often either but it happened that night.
The Secret Weapon
I winked at my wife, told the kids I would be right back and went to my bedroom. I grabbed a pair of old work boots that I had, returned to the kids’ room and put the boots in the middle of their bedroom floor. I raised my voice and announced to the monster that I was tired of him bothering my children and I was going to stay in their room until he showed his ugly face. I whispered to the kids that the monster can see the shoes but doesn’t know they are empty so he will stay away.
We tucked them in, said goodnight and walked away praying the boots would somehow keep the monster at bay. They slept well that night but the real test was going to come tomorrow.
The next night we put them to bed but before turning out the lights, I announced that I was going to be waiting for the monster and put the boots in the middle of the floor. We went to the living room expecting to hear a scream but it never came. We gave it some time and after about an hour we checked on them – sound asleep. It worked!
I’m not sure how many nights the boots were in their room but I do know we didn’t have to worry about monsters under the beds anymore. The monsters
IN the beds – well, that’s another story for another time, but they have turned into some pretty amazing adults so….
😛
"The Roommate" -
Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
"Tucked Away" -
Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay
"The Boots" - Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
"Sleeping" -
Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay
beautiful story... In India we used to tell our kids that monsters will come if they don't sleep...it used to work... on the other side of the world, parents fight with the invisible monsters to let their kids could sleep peacefully. The story reminded me of my childhood...we were never scared of a monster because we never slept alone..mom or dad or elder brother or sister always used sleep next to us..protecting us... Thanks for reminding me of all those beautiful memories.
ReplyDeletePlease keep writing...!
Padma - I am so glad you enjoyed it and that it brought back happy memories for you. It's interesting to hear how other cultures do things. I have had fun writing these stories and have more to come - next up is how I got the kids to take a nap.
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