Timmy woke up with a start, it was those noises from beneath his bed again. He wanted to run to mommy’s room and cuddle up near her. But he knew the strange man would scold mommy and mommy would scold him. And he would be back in the bed and the noises would continue. Timmy was tired and sick of the noises. He got out of the bed and pulled his wooden sword out of his mattress. He scrunched his face to make it look scary, held his sword hard and pulled up the bedsheet and peered under the bed. There was no monster there. But there was a door and it opened onto darkness. Where had the door come from? Timmy took his flashlight and pointed it at the door. There was a wooden staircase, he climbed down. After a long silent climb down he reached the basement floor. The basement was huge, his flashlight could not find the walls or the ceiling.

Timmy heard muffled sounds. There was a small light far away in the darkness. Timmy walked towards the light. It was a single bulb that cast a small circle of light. In that light was a steel table and the strange man and mommy were tied up on it. Mommy’s muffled sounds increased when she saw Timmy. Timmy ran towards her. Even before he reached the table Timmy could sense him, the boogeyman, lurking in the darkness just outside the circle of light.

Timmy reached the table and touched his mother’s hand. The boogeyman stepped out of the shadows. Timmy couldn’t look away. The boogeyman was tall and lanky, covered in a black cloak and wore a white mask with large bug-like eyes. The boogeyman held a small kitchen knife and waited for Timmy. They waited for a while, Timmy staring into the bug-like eyes. Then the boogeyman moved to the strange man lying beside mommy on the table. The boogeyman held the small knife to the man’s throat and waited. Timmy realized nothing would happen unless he wanted it to. Timmy smiled. He grinned at the look of terror in the strange man’s eyes, this is how Timmy must have looked at him all the times he had hit Timmy. Timmy looked at the boogeyman and pointed at his heart. The boogeyman moved the knife to the stranger’s heart. The strange man struggled and moaned and pleaded with Timmy. Timmy stared at the strange man and smacked his lips. Timmy looked at the boogeyman and nodded. The boogeyman slid the knife into the strange man’s heart. Blood gushed out of it in a small fountain and it splashed everywhere as he trashed. Timmy jumped in joy and pointed at the neck. The boogeyman slit the neck from ear to ear and the strange man lay silent. It looked like he was smiling from his neck.

The boogeyman moved to mommy’s side and stood near her. Timmy wanted to tell her it was nothing personal, he did love her in his own way. That she had tried her best to be a good mother and Timmy knew that. He gave her a sad smile and a flying kiss. Then he nodded to the boogeyman. Timmy and the boogeyman both watched mommy as she became silent. She too smiled at Timmy from the neck.

Boogeyman then turned to Timmy and handed him the knife. Timmy smiled and left the basement. He entered his mother’s bedroom. When the house had fallen quiet again and everyone was smiling Timmy returned to his bed and slept peacefully. He was sure there were no monsters under his bed.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash