Staring at ceilings (A Blue Man Origins Story)

Staring

"Goodnight love. I'll see you in the morning," she says, leaving and closing the door behind her, leaving the room pitch black. 

It's the same again. 

Mommy took away my nightlight, saying I was a big kid now, I don't need it. 

But she doesn't know how much the dark truly scares me. 

And the noises. 

They always start right after she leaves-sometimes they are loud and bang on the ball as if they are trying to shake the whole house with their pounding, and sometimes it's just scratching and gentle tapping, always right behind my head. 

There it is again. 

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I clutch my blanket closer, the scratchy edge worn by time bundled in my fists. I can feel them, coming closer, bringing a cold breeze with them that sends chills down my spine and shocks my body to it's core. 

I close my eyes. If I can't see them, they can't hurt me. Just until the morning. 

Just one more night. 

All I have to do is make it through one more night. 

Tap. Tap. Tap. 

It's all in my head. 

Scratch, scratch. 

Just a dream. 

Don't open your eyes and it will go away. 

It's scratching along the walls, the noise penetrating my ears like a scream that goes on for centuries. 

Breathe in, breathe out. 

You have this. 

Bud-dum. Bud-dum. Bud-dum. 

It's just them tapping at the walls. Nothing to be afraid of. 

Bud-dum. Bud-dum. Bud-dum, sproing.

Wait, this never happened before. 

The noises, they stopped. 

I hesitate, if I look, they might come back.

There's a phone ringing. 

I slowly open one eye, just to see three blue figures standing there, two staring at the other who is looking down. he is fumbling clumsily with something in his hands. I let out a snicker, and they all look at me. 

I'm not scared, there's something different about them. They aren't here to hurt me, I can just feel it. 

They look at each other, appearing confused. 

I open my other eye so I can see them better. 

They spread out in my room, looking for something. One picks up my textbook, flipping through the pages and tapping out a beat. Another grabs the pencils off my desk, and walks over to the first one and starts pounding on the book too. It  is a nice little melody they have going.  The third one sneaks up from behind, something hidden behind his back. He pulls it out, and sets a pair of mechanical teeth, chattering across the book, until it falls off the other edge. The other two look at him. 

This causes me to laugh, so much that my ribs hurt. 

"Is everything okay up there?" I hear a voice call out from beyond the door.

"Yeah," I yell back. "It's just a really funny dream"

I look back at them. They are looking at each other, a solemn look in their unmoving faces. They come closer, and the middle one comes up to my bed. They gently grab a corner of my favorite blanket and pull it so it touches my chin. They turn to leave, and I  feel my eyes slowly drift close. I try to keep them open, and they look back. They wave, and my eyes close against my will. 

But I'm not worried anymore. 

I know they'll be back.