1

On the day he was going to do it, Thomas woke up early. He had a terrible dream - one of those dreams he wished he shouldn’t have had. All sweaty, breathing heavily and reviving from the nightmare, he got up from bed and opened his windows. Staring at the ringing church bell at a distance through his windows, he thought about the day. It was a big day. Yes, he was finally going to do it. He sighed.

Later that day, at school, he talked about it with his friends.

“Guys, I’m gonna do it tonight!” He said to the gang.

“Do what?” One of them didn’t know.

“Yes. I’m gonna look under the bed tonight!” he exclaimed with a confident smile.

“WHAT! No way!”

“What about the monsters though?” The little one asked.

“There are no such things. Monsters and wandering souls. Pfft!”

“My brother says they won’t catch you as long as you don’t look.” The little one said.

“I don’t believe all that”. Thomas was confident.

The night and its darkness fell early on the winter eve. The town was tired and petrified in the cold. Poverty had crawled deep into their lives. Thomas and his mother suffered raw hardship too. Though craving more food, he was sent to bed sooner than usual.

He lit a candle in one of the corners of the room and lay down. He didn’t feel like doing it anymore—he didn’t feel confident. The cold and the hunger weakened him. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. Before panicking even further, he closed his eyes swiftly and forcibly so as to make the ultimate decision. Over a minute spent in solitude, he opened his eyes.

“I’m gonna do it!” he said to himself.

With all his courage and strength, he snuggled himself to the edge of the bed and with a deep breath, he slowly slid down his head. As his eyes approached the darkness under his cot, he felt better. Nothing but darkness. He felt relieved.

He glanced at the darkness for a minute or two to make sure nothing mystical resided under his bed.

“Ha! Nothing at all.” He smiled.

Suddenly, he started to feel something strange. Each time he blinked, the room got darker. The contagious, evil darkness started to fill the room. The blackness and the shadows became more obscure over a short period. Terrified of the weird episode of events, Thomas hid himself under his blanket. Vigorous winter winds broke his windows into the room. He could have taken the cold, but not the extreme cold wind. It blew his blankets off and away, literally freezing his soul.

The cold currents of air woke up the monster under the bed. It grunted, screamed and searched for the kid. It reached out his hand, crawling over his bed and eventually grabbed Thomas by his neck. Thomas, frightened and struck by the deed, felt like crying out loud. But he couldn’t.

Thomas couldn’t think of anything. It was too late. He was muscled and pulled out of his bed and into the infinite darkness of the room. He fell down from his bed, hitting the floor so hard; harder than he had ever fallen; so hard that he passed out into a deep sleep.

2

The next morning, Thomas woke up early. He had a terrible dream - one of those dreams he wished he shouldn’t have had. All sweaty, breathing heavily and reviving from the nightmare, he got up from bed and opened his windows. Staring at the ringing church bell at a distance through his windows, he thought about the day. It was a big day. Yes, he was finally going to do it. He sighed.

.   .   .