Shiomi Daisuke was just like any other six year old girl. She liked dressing up, playing with toys, and watching cartoons. She especially liked drawing, though. She drew the most beautiful pictures for her mother, and she always hung them up when Daisuke gave them to her. It made her feel so proud.
One afternoon, Daisuke was sitting with a few other children, waiting to be picked up from school by her mother. She was rushing to finish the picture she was working on, snatching up crayons and swiping them across her white printer paper with perfect precision. Grabbing a navy blue crayon, she made the final adjustments, before setting it down and looking proudly at her work.
Her teacher crouched over her shoulder to look at her work. “That's wonderful, Daisuke! Here, let me take it, and we can hang it up.”
The teacher took the paper up, making Daisuke gasp and jump to grab it back. “No! It's not for you! It's for mom!”
He chuckled and placed it back on the table. “Oh, it is? I'm sorry. What is it?”
She grinned, pointing at her work proudly with one of her stubby fingers, cracked purple polish on her fingernail. “It's mom fighting off the monsters. Did you know she's a superhero for work? She told me so herself.”
“Did she, now? That's very impressive. She fights off the monsters, right?”
“Uh-huh. If I say that there's one in my room, she walks in and beats it up!” Daisuke punched the air.
“Wow, I'll have to call her if I see any monsters myself.”
“Well, she's very very busy, so it might be a little bit! Make sure and pay her extra!”
The teacher nodded. “I will, don't worry. And speaking of your mom, she's here right now.” He pointed towards the door, where Daisuke's mother was standing with a smile on her face.
Daisuke’s face lit up. She grabbed her drawing and her glittery unicorn backpack, before rushing to her mother to hug her around her legs. “I missed you!”
Her mother petted her black hair with one of her manicured hands. “I missed you, too. What did you get up to at school today?”
“I drew you something! It's you fighting the monsters!” She shoved the drawing at her triumphantly.
Her mother grinned warmly as she took the drawing and admired it. “Oh, it's wonderful. I'll put it on the fridge right when we get home.”
“Okay, yay!” Daisuke took her mother's hand, and started walking off with her.
“Have a great weekend!” Her teacher said with a wave as they left.
***
Back at home, Daisuke was stretched out on the living room floor, playing with her dolls while she waited for her mother to finish cooking dinner. While she was engrossed in the storyline she had come up for them in her head, she hadn't even noticed the horrific figure looming above her. She started to squirm, feeling like there were bugs all over her skin. She had felt this feeling before, she knew it. Her little face went ghostly pale. There was a monster…
She dropped her dolls, jumping up and running to the kitchen to clutch to her mother. “Mom! There's something in there…” She sputtered, voice trembling.
“Daisuke, I'm sorry, but I can't take my eye off the food right now, I don't need it to burn. You're a brave girl, I know you can fight it.” She rubbed a hand down her daughter's back, glancing at her for a moment with a reassuring smile.
Daisuke's lower lip trembled. She wasn't brave, that's what Mom was for! But she didn't want to ruin dinner, so she unwillingly backed off of her and crept back into the living room. She tried to stand strong, hands curled up into fists at her sides as she stared at the monster head-on; but she was shaking. This monster was ten times scarier than the ones she had seen before. Her skin was crawling like a million worms were writhing around just underneath it.
