“Quickly Eli, everything is falling apart!” BaBark whimpered and grabbed at Eli’s arm. Eli yanked his arm back and raced around the monster’s melting form towards the bubble where his mother was trapped. It was falling apart, like the ground under Eli’s feet.
“Where are you going?” BaBark yelled as he struggled to follow.
“My mommy!”
The bubble burst open and Eli’s mom fell from it. BaBark jumped forward and caught her, cradling her gently. “A beautiful specimen,” he murmured, his big brown eyes transfixed as he looked down. The floor under him dipped. He looked at Eli in fear.
“We have to get up there!” Eli pointed to the gap in the ceiling. They both looked at the ledges on the wall and nodded at each other. BaBark almost pushed Eli out of the way in his hurry. He jumped onto the first ledge and, holding Eli’s mother against his chest, leaped back down onto the floor. The ground had just enough elasticity to launch the woofer up to a higher ledge. Eli followed suit. The monster was still screaming down below, its tentacles flinging through the air wildly. As quickly as they could, Eli and BaBark leaped from ledge to ledge, getting closer to the ceiling. When they reached the highest ledge, the floor melted completely. With a final roar, the monster diluted completely and all of the sickly goo turned to clear water.
“What now?” Eli asked as they huddled together on the small ledge, just twenty short feet from the exit.
“I don’t know,” said BaBark. Eli looked unusually small, cowering against the rocky wall, his eyes wide. BaBark felt a rush of affection towards the boy who had come so far to save his mother. “You were very brave, pup. You were braver than any woofer I have ever met. You’re so small, but you did it. Here’s your mother, safe and sound. All thanks to you.”
“I didn’t do it, though.” Eli complained. “We’re still stuck here. There’s no way up.”
BaBark was silent for a moment. His wrinkles seemed to deepen on his face. He sighed. “I can get you out of here, pup. No problem.”
“You can?” Eli’s eyes lit up.
“Here, hang on to your mother like this.” BaBark carefully handed over the small woman. BaBark lifted them up with a grunt. His giant hand barely fit them both. “Don’t let go, alright? The hole up there is big enough to fit you both.”
“Wait, what?” Eli asked, flabbergasted. Before he could argue, BaBark swung his entire arm back like a baseball player and flung both Eli and his mother towards the gap in the ceiling. Eli gripped his mother so tightly his fingertips turned white. She began to slip from his grasp.
“Goodbye pup!” BaBark shouted from his tiny ledge, watching the humans fly straight to safety. “Be brave for this poor, old woofer!”
A flare of light blinded Eli as he and his mother flew through the hole.
★
Eli thought it must have been the warmth that woke him, but a soft voice wafted into the room like a caress. “Eli, where are you?”
The door was brushed open and a small, blonde woman stepped into the room daintily. Eli was splayed out under his bed, two serving trays taped to his abdomen. An upside down pot was lying in the middle of the room, next to a plastic sword.
“What is this mess?” The woman gently tugged Eli from his sleep and he awoke in her arms. Her hair tickled his ears.
“Mommy?”
“What happened here? Did you have a battle while I was gone?”
Eli nodded sleepily. “I defeated the monster and I rescued you.”
His mother laughed warmly. “Of course you did. Eli, you know there’s no monster.”
For the first time, Eli nodded. He wrapped his arms around his mother’s neck and said, “there’s no monster.”
