The Gunman

Chapter 19: Dean

I didn't know what was happening. All I knew was that my mommy was holding my small hand in hers and we hid in a dark closet. I didn't like the dark, monsters always hid in the dark. And I didn't like monsters, my mommy didn't care though. She stood there, telling me to be quiet. I wasn't the one talking though, she was.

I shifted my weight side to side and yawned, wasn't it my nap time yet? I was sleepy, where was my bed? My mommy brought me to my big sisters' school today to give her money for lunch. Then a big bang happened, and my mommy dragged me into the dark room filled with monsters.

Many more bangs happened, and every single one seemed to make my mommy even more scared. I didn't know why a few bangs would scare my mommy. She was normally so brave, but not right then.

"It's okay mommy." I said, "The big bangs won't hurt you, I promise mommy." She looked down at me and tried to smile, so I smiled back. My head was level with her hip, and I gave her a hug, like she gave me at night when I saw something in my closet.

"I know baby, the big bangs won't hurt you either." She hugged me back, which made me feel warm. Then, my mommy stood up straighter. At first I didn't know why, and then I heard the noise in the hallway.

It sounded like the noise my feet made when I tried to walk in my daddy's big boots. Except I would always fall because I couldn't fit in my daddy's boots. I was about to yell out to the noise, thinking it was my daddy in his boots, but my mommy held me tighter. Maybe we were playing hide and seek with my daddy?

I smiled, I liked that game. I was so good at that game; my daddy never could find me. So I ducked behind my mommy, if he opened the door he would see my mommy and not me. There was no way for me to know though, that there were cleaning things in the back of the dark space. "Mommy! Monsters!" I yelled and jumped forwards.

My mommy looked terrified, and the clomping boot noises stopped. Right outside our door. My daddy would save me from the monsters. My hand grabbed the door and pushed it open. "Daddy! There's monsters in there!" I yelled and hugged him.

My mother screamed in what sounded like being scared and I didn't get why. The monsters wouldn't hurt us with my daddy here. So I turned to look at my mommy and smiled. She reached for me and pulled me close behind her, and I turned to face my daddy. But that wasn't my daddy, it was some guy dressed in black with a mask on. He looked like one of those robbers from the cartoons I liked to watch.

"Please, don't hurt him. He's only four, please. Please, please, please, please." My mommy was crying and she squeezed my hand so tightly it hurt. The man's eyes went from me to my mommy, then back to me. He looked confused, and I smiled at him.

The boy took a black stick from his side, and raised it. It was pointing at my mommy. I realized it was one of those things my daddy put in his closet, the things he took out side with him and pointed at things. Then a big bang would erupt from it. That was the thing that had been making the big noises.

"Mister Man," I said to the guy, "Excuse me." His eyes went back to me and I continued, "Do you know where my sister is? We brought her money, and she needs it for her lunch." I stopped taking, then added, "Because she needs to eat."

The man's eyes widened, and then squinted down. He never answered me, but he put his stick down and walked away. My mommy cried and I gave her another hug. "It's ok mommy, we'll find Anna soon and give her the food money." I patted her back, like she had done to me so many times before. Her hand had never left mine, and it hurt. But that was ok, it seemed to make her feel better. So I let her squeeze my hand as I hugged her. There were no more monsters in the closet; the man had scared them all away.