The Monster Under Her Bed

Excellence Award in the 'Write Along 2018' competition

There’s a reason we all run to our beds in moments of distress. They can hide us from sounds and sights as if they were magic. And in a way, they are. But what if I told you that it wasn’t your bed that protected you, but what lay underneath it. The bogey men. The monsters.
I always protected my little sister. She had always been my top priority, and when I died that never changed. Our mother was neglectful, our father was long gone and I was all she had. But when a drunk driver lost control, I lost my life and I became something I had never thought to believe in.
I knew I had died the second it happened. It was so painful that I couldn’t bear it but after a moment it faded into a soft electricity beneath my skin. And then she appeared. She had glowing pinkish skin and her eyes were so green that they were blinding. She was beautiful yet ghastly at the same time. I wanted to be scared of her, but I couldn’t be.
“Who are you?” I asked, my voice hoarse and sore. She just stared. I repeated myself but she remained silent, gesturing to something behind me. I slowly turned to see a door standing unsupported in the middle of the road. It looked familiar but I couldn’t place it.
“What do you want?” I asked the woman, who gestured again to the door. I felt myself stepping forwards, grasping the handle of the door and twisting it. I slowly opened it, peering inside. The room was dark and seemed to have odd shapes littered throughout it. What looked like a bed rested in one corner. I turned to ask what it was but the woman was gone, leaving a dark spot on the road where she had been. I turned back to the room straightened my pained back as I stepped inside. Suddenly, even in the darkness, I could see everything. Toys, a bed, the room of a little girl. My little sister. She sat on her bed, hugging a doll and crying. I ran towards her, reaching out to her, but stopped before I touched her. She looked so sad and as I stared at her she whispered something into the doll’s hair.
“I miss you Ashley.” She turned over to lie down in the bed and after a moment she was asleep. I stepped backwards, my eyes catching my reflection in her mirror. My hair was as dark as night now, my skin was silver and my eyes glowed blue. I had died, but I was alive. I slunk backwards, my eyes watching over my sister as she slept, blending into the shadowy corner of her room.
We all have someone to protect, if only they knew we weren’t always monsters.
I am her biggest protector.
I am the shadow in the corner of her room.
I am the monster under her bed.

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