"Okay,” Daddy said, “It is time for bed."
"Not yet,” I said, “it's not done." I was watching shows on his tablet, cuddled under our old plaid blanket, on the big red couch in the living room. It used to stink like farts and old beer, but now it was cozy, and clean. It smelled like fresh laundry.
He leaned around the doorway to our kitchen. "Now, little girl." He was smiling when he said it.
I made my best pouty face, and tried to make my lip as big as possible.
He stared right back. "Now." He wasn't smiling any more. But he wasn’t mad. Not like he used to get.
I stomped my feet to the bathroom, with my arms crossed. I brushed my teeth, glaring at the mirror. I rinsed, spit, stomped loudly out of the bathroom and yelled, "Okaaaaay! I'm ready."
He came from the kitchen. His hands were wet, and soapy. He crouched down, his shoulders were hunched, and he had a big wide grin. He gave a deep growl. He started moving forward with his soapy wet hands out in front. I knew this game. I giggled. He roared, and chased me.
I sprinted to my room and dove under my covers, expecting to hear his heavy feet, but it got quiet instead. I could hear the clock in the hallway ticking. Then I heard a small noise, like sniffing, close, right over the covers. I tried to bite my lip. Sometimes when I get excited, I can’t help but make noise, like a sort of laugh and scream at the same time.
Suddenly it was bright again, as the blankets ripped back. My Daddy gave a roar like he was a big bear and lunged at me, fingers outstretched. I screamed and laughed as he tickled me. He tickled until I was laughing so hard I didn’t make a sound. We did this almost every night nowadays. I was almost forgetting how scary he used to be.
Finally, he stopped so I could catch my breath, he sat on the end of my bed, giving a big “Wooo!” as he caught his breath too.
I looked up at him. "Daddy, will you read me a story?"
He shook his head. "I would, but it is late."
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" I squeezed my hands together, and made my eyes as big as they could go.
"No, little girl."
I stuck my lip out, crossed my arms and fell back on my pillow with a loud ‘whommpf.’ I glared at my toes. He touched me on my elbow, I looked up at him, he smiled, and said, “How about this?”
Then he told me a story. It was about an awful king. And how he was mean and hurt his princess. But, there was a goblin that had snuck into the castle to hide. The goblin was scary and could have eaten the princess but he realized that he liked her very much. He did not like the king and replaced him. And the princess was happy ever since, and no one ever hurt her again.
I loved that story.
When he was done, he reached for the light.
"No daddy." I shook my head very quickly.
He turned. "Still? I told you. There's nothing to be afraid of in this house now."
"Last night, I heard a noise. Like growling. From there." I pointed at the closet. The door was closed. It was a heavy, old door, that Daddy said had been there since the house was built. It was white with an old, dirty looking metal handle. No matter how scared I used to get, I never hid in that closet.
My daddy was smiling again, and looked at me right in the eyes. “Really?”
I nodded.
He looked at me for awhile, and his lips turned into a straight line. Then he looked at the closet. He stared at it for a long time. He walked right up to it, and placed a hand against it. He placed his ear against it. I sat quietly and let him listen.
Then he turned back to me. His smile was even bigger. I could see all his teeth and how wide his eyes were..
“Okay! The light stays on.” He gave me one last hug. He smelled like dish soap. I liked it. He used to smell like beer and the dishes were always in the sink. He walked out of the room, leaving the door open a crack.
I snuggled into the blankets.
I woke up later. My room was dark. It was hard to see anything, but my night light still shone.
I heard a noise. But it was different. For the last bunch of nights, it sounded like something growling, and small squeaks from the floor. Now i heard thumping and sliding, like a snake that swallowed a baseball.
I saw a pile of something all folded, and lumpy like someone dropped clothes on the floor. A sleeve was flopped out. It was skin coloured and had fingers. I walked closer to it, and could smell the dish soap. I poked it. It felt like skin.
I walked to the closet, and opened it. The light from my room shone inside.
The first thing I saw was a long, giant bug, with lots of legs like the ones we find in the basement. Except each leg ended in a hand. Like a person’s hand, with long fingernails. There was maine of black hair that ran down the back of it. The big bug’s head was in the corner of the closet, and it looked like when daddy let me smash our jack-o-latern.
There was another monster. It had four arms, legs and a tail. It had yellow eyes, and a very wide mouth, like a clown. It also had big, white, long teeth like a cats. But longer.
It was red everywhere inside the closet. All over my clothes inside, all over the monster’s fur, and all around it’s mouth.
It smelled like a really bad nosebleed, and wet dog.
The hairy thing noticed the light shining into the closet from my nightlight. It turned, and looked at me.
It stared at me for a while. I stared back, into its small black eyes. I felt my heart thudding. My skin felt all prickly from goosebumps, and felt a lump in my throat, like even if I tried to scream, it wasn’t going to come out right.
The monster gave a small, sad smile. "Hey little girl,” I heard my dad say, “I told you. There’s nothing to be afraid of in this house now."
