The Monster Under The Bed
And why the boy never sleeps the same again.
“Did you hear that?” the boy whispered.
“Hear what?” asked the babysitter.
“Under the bed. I heard tapping.” the boy replied, eyes wide.
“Too many horror movies lately?” the babysitter chuckled, kneeling. “Let me check.”
She lifted the bed skirt, phone in hand, sweeping the flashlight underneath — and froze.
Dark hollow eyes stared back.
Before she could scream, a hand shot out — ice-cold, nails like splinters — clamping around her ankle and yanking her down. Her shoulder slammed the dresser. A lamp shattered in a spray of glass. The boy shrieked as the man scrambled and bolted down the hallway. The babysitter lunged for her phone, but he was already out the door.
She locked the door behind him, heart pounding.
Cops came, took statements and left chalk outlines of footprints found in the muddy flowerbeds outside. “He used to live here,” the officer muttered. “We thought he was still in the institution.”
The boy wouldn't sleep for days after. He now taps his fingers on the wall before bed. Four taps, then silence. That’s how he knows he’s alone.
Until the night he hears five.
Real headlines that vaguely resemble today’s fiction:
https://apnews.com/article/monster-under-bed-babysitter-kansas-00004624219431932311888a4ca08776
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70e2y98p06o
Relate? Leave a comment. Know someone who would? Send it their way.
If you are confusing this with real news, please unplug your Wi-Fi router, go outside and touch some grass to get back to reality. Full disclaimer here.