Irhaboggle Pride (2018) 30 Days, 30 Stories

Feeding Time

Amelia watched the Babadook scamper back to its corner, dragging the bowl of worms with it in defeat. Her heart was still pounding as she recovered from its most recent attempt on her life. It may not have taken her more than a second to subdue the weakened creature, but in the moment when it first struck, she'd been rendered immobile. Frozen in fear, she could only watch as the creature rose up to its full height in attempt to scare her. But she managed to gather her strength and courage just in the nick of time. Now, the pathetic creature was sulking in its corner again, slurping up its worms angrily. But even though he was obviously upset, Amelia was not. Not anymore.

"There now, Mr. Babadook, you aren't so scary at all!" she murmured, both to herself and the Babadook itself. Granted, this was only a half-truth, but it gave Amelia the courage to wait until the Babadook was done eating. Once it was finished, it slid the bowl back to her, still upset.

"Thank you," she told it serenely, then after she picked up the bowl, she turned her back on the Babadook and went back upstairs. She had faith that it would not try to attack her again, and she was correct. All it did was glare at her even after she shut the basement door again.

ooo

The next time it tried to attack, a week and a half had passed. Once again, it tried to use brute force, slapping the bowl of worms right out of Amelia's hands. As it crashed the floor, scattering the worms everywhere, Amelia leapt back in terror. She tripped over the bottom stair of the basement and landed awkwardly on the one stair directly above it. The Babadook wasted no time in towering over her, using its psychic power to haunt her and fill her heart and mind with grief.

Images of her husband and son dying, images of rainy funerals, images of an empty house... Loneliness, isolation, guilt, regret... Tears were streaming down her face before she even knew it, further impairing her from taking an offensive or defensive stance. But then, through the haze of agony and sorrow, she thought she heard her son calling to her.

"Mom! You can't let it in!"

And Amelia clung to that desperate cry, letting it play over and over in her mind again.

Then finally, she raised her own voice.

"It's ok!" she cried, removing her arms from her head and throwing them up at the hungry, angry Babadook. It was a vulnerable position to take, but therein lay the key to victory. If she kept trying to resist, the Babadook would keep wearing her down. The key to defeating it was not to defeat it, but to "surrender" to it. She had to deny her instincts and be vulnerable, no matter how insane it seemed.

"It's ok!" she repeated, still waving her arms frantically. "It's alright! Shhh, calm down! Shh!" Amelia continued to soothe the creature and, slowly but surely, it backed away. The psychic assault weakened until it finally stopped entirely. Amelia was able to stand up again, a bit bruised and shaken, but not seriously injured. She continued to calm the creature and it continued to retreat from her. Once it was curled up in its corner, Amelia salvaged the worms and slid the bowl over to it. For a moment, it seemed like the Babadook would try to reject the worms again, but after a few seconds, Amelia heard the tell-tale sound of slurping.

Once it was finished, as customary, it slid the empty bowl back to her.

"Thank you," she told it, then she departed, the Babadook still growling behind her. But it did not try to attack her again.

ooo

But not every feeding time resulted in a battle. One day, Amelia brought down the bowl of worms, but she couldn't see or hear the Babadook. But she knew it had not escaped, because she could still feel its presence. And she knew that, once the Babadook came to you, it would never leave. As it turned out, though, the creature was in a different corner of the room and it was making strange snuffling sounds. Was it... crying?

"Awww, poor thing," Amelia clucked her tongue compassionately as she approached the miserable mass of shadow. She'd never come this close to it before, at least not willingly, but today she could sense that the creature wasn't even going to try to attack. Once she set the bowl down, she continued to gaze at it pityingly.

"There, there, now, dear," she murmured. "Everything's ok, it's all going to be alright..."

The Babadook took its meal, albeit reluctantly, and slurped it all down until nothing remained. Amelia smiled pleasantly.

"Thank you," she told it. Only silence followed her back out into the warm daylight.

ooo

Another time, the creature tried to escape its basement prison. First, it made a dash for the door as soon as Amelia unlocked it. Next, after she managed to keep it back, it tried to rush past her as soon as she bent over to slide the bowl of worms over. But once again, Amelia was too quick. After a couple more failed escape attempts, the Babadook tried one last time to physically attack Amelia. But just like before, she was able to fend it off. She didn't come out of the fight without a few cuts and slashes, but she was the clear winner.

"I know you want to leave," Amelia told the creature. "But you are not allowed to. You must stay here! And if you do try to leave, I will not be happy." Her tone was sharp. Even though her speech hadn't been intimidating, it worked, and the Babadook finally conceded to eat.

"Thank you," Amelia told it curtly, then once it was finished, she took the bowl back upstairs.

ooo

And this was Amelia's endless, tumultuous relationship with the creature that lurked beneath the floorboards. Some days it was passive, some days it was aggressive. Some days it would use anger and terror to attack, other times it would use guilt and grief. Some days it would wear Amelia down to a dangerous brink, some days it couldn't even come close to hurting her.

Some days, the Babadook's influence would make her wonder if continuing this endless fight was actually worth it, or if it might not be easier to just give up the ghost for good. The worms were a poor substitute for the meal it actually wanted. How long before it tried to ruin her life again? In only a month, it had already tried to attack her several times over. And if the Babadook was going to be a part of her life forever...

But other days, Amelia would remember that she could not give up now! No matter how her faith in life might wane, if she could hold out just long enough to see it begin to wax again, she would live to see another day, and she would be reminded that no matter hopeless it felt at any given moment, the despair would not last forever. For every down, there would always be an up. She just needed to live long enough to see it. No, it was not going to be an easy life, but it was not impossible.

So no matter what the Babadook threw at her, she might lose the battle, but she promised that she would never lose the war. She'd always get back up to see another day, no matter how far the creature managed to push her.

"Thank you," Amelia told the monster calmly as it finished its worms. Then she took the empty bowl and left the basement.

AN: I wrote this fic for 2 reasons.

1, the Gay Babadook joke.

2, even though this is not a queer film, I still think it has applicable, meaningful lessons.

For example, I loved that the Babadook could never be destroyed, only accepted and worked with. It's a great metaphor for mental health issues, which run parallel with the queer community.