The Creature

The child was sleeping peacefully in his bed, one leg tucked safely under his covers and the other out, feeling the soft, cool breeze from the ceiling fan. Being asleep, he was unaware of the creature staring at him from behind the crack of his barely opened closet door. The creature stared with a look of confusion, and curiosity. His glowing red eyes remained glued to the boy and his movements. Occasionally the boy would turn over, or murmur something in his sleep.  It was these small stirrings that kept the creature behind the door, afraid to move any closer for fear the boy was actually awake. Tonight isn’t the night the creature thought to himself and he softly pulled the closet door shut. Tomorrow he would try again.

The boy awoke the next morning feeling refreshed and well rested. He shifted his position in bed to where his legs were hanging off the side, inches above the floor. It was Saturday, so no school and that meant a good day. He didn’t hate school but that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy his free time away from it. There were only so many, essays, math equations and formulas he could take consecutively. Saturdays were somewhat of an escape for him, and Sundays were just a day he considered a preparation for the week ahead.

He planted his feet on the ground and while yawning and stretching he walked across the room to his closet. He opened the door and peered inside at his assortment of shirts. It was springtime so a short sleeved t-shirt would work perfectly. He picked a bright orange one that read “Doesn’t play well with others” across the front and unhooked it from its hangar. He put the shirt on and found a pair of shorts on the ground that he had wore yesterday, slipped them on and left his room, leaving the closet door hanging open.

In the kitchen he found his mother setting the table for breakfast. He ate together with his family and then asked his mother if she would take him to the city courts to play basketball with some of his friends. After a quick speech on when she would want him ready for her to pick him up and what to do and not to do, she agreed to take him. Smiling he ran back to his room to put on his shoes and grab his wristwatch to keep up with the time. After lacing up his shoes and tying them tight he bounded out of his room and his house to where his mother waited for him in her car. What he didn’t noticed was the closet door he had left open, was now shut. 

The boy and his mom arrived at the courts a few moments later where some of his friends were shooting on the far side court. He said goodbye to his mom, kissed her on her cheek and ran to join his friends. They greeted him by passing him the ball; now that he was there they had enough to split into two teams. They divided and the game began.

Back in the boy’s room, the closet door softly opens. The creature’s glowing red eyes stare out into the young boy’s room. Scanning once more to be certain the room is empty, the creature steps out from the closet and into the room. A soft light pours in from the cracks in the blinds, illuminating the room. The creature slowly paces across the room to the boy’s bed. Suddenly, he dives to the floor and scans underneath the bed, mapping out every single item and space. After he had examined under the bed closely, he shot up and ran quickly to the boy’s dresser. His movements were so quick and jerky, that if a human were watching from his eyes, they would be sick to their stomach. The creature wrapped his long and pale fingers around the rung of the top dresser drawer. His red eyes flashed left and right before pulling the drawer open and mind photographing everything inside. He did this with the rest of the drawers and when finished with them, did the same with the boy’s nightstand, and even his desk that sat across from his bed. Everything in the room was mapped out and taken note of in mere minutes. As the creature was closing the desk drawer a new sound came to his hears. The creature recognized the sound as a four padded paws of a dog, and also two human feet with a pair of leather sandals, and they were just outside the door. Rather than try and make it back to the closet, the creature turned invisible and darted under the desk. He preferred to hide in the closet where he could find an easier hiding spot, for though he was invisible, he was still solid and could be touched or ran into, plus. The door to the room opened and the two figures made their way inside. The woman, the boy’s mother, hummed a musical tune and picked up a collection of shirts, pants, and shorts off the boy’s floor to take and wash. The dog made his way around the room sniffing. Dogs, thought the creature. Always pests. The dog approached the desk and sniffed close to the creature. Though the creature had no smell, it had been in the past, been found by dogs somehow. This time however, the young retriever had different plans than finding creatures as it lifted its leg and began urinating on the desk itself. When the mother glanced over and saw this happening, she was furious and began yelling at the dog. She set the clothes on the bed and grabbed the dog by its collar while yelling “OUTSIDE, OUTSIDE”. Knowing the woman would be back to clean the mess in a moment and would be too close for comfort to the creature, it darted across the room, slipped into the closet and into a hiding spot once again. Tonight  he thought. It happens tonight.

The boy climbed into his mother’s car sweaty, and tired. On the way home she informed him of how bad he smelt and how he needed to shower as soon as he got home. They pulled into the driveway and as he got out to walk inside he remembered something that had happened while he was playing basketball.  Out of his pocket he pulled one of his teeth that had been knocked out while battling for a rebound, quite literally. It was loose anyway so it didn’t hurt too badly and he had forgotten all about it. He showed his mom who didn’t look overly pleased at how rough the boys played. After hearing a small lecture on how they needed to be more careful, he made his way inside and into his room. He grabbed an extra set of clothes from his closet and dresser and made his way to the bathroom to shower.  He’d played at the courts for hours and the warm water felt good. After showering he found that his mom had dinner ready and he ate with his family and prepared for what otherwise would be a lazy day watching cartoons. When evening fell and it was time for him to climb in bed but first he decided he would read for a bit. After reading for about 20 second the boy put the book down, flicked off the light and turned over and was asleep within 5 minutes.

Watching this all with shining red eyes was the creature from the closet. It waited patiently for another hour or so to make sure the boy was in a deep sleep and finally the moment came. It was going to happen right now. The creature slowly opened the door; his jerky movements were slowed to a careful movement. It stood next to the boy, and in its hand was the key to the whole operation. Carefully the creature extended its hand underneath the boy’s pillow, placing the boy’s new wealth, while withdrawing the creatures. The creature slowly made his way back to closet to look over his new prize. Pleased with the boy’s tooth, the creature transported away.

The next morning the boy woke up, and excitedly remembered his tooth, he yanked back his pillow and there where his tooth was the previous night, was now a crisp one dollar bill.