The shadow monster lives in your house. The shadow monster lives in your room. The shadow monster lives in your bed. The shadow monster lives in your head

Gloria chanted the stupid poem, trying to freak out her brother. Jacob rolled his eyes pretending not to be scared. The living room was dark, covered in shadows but he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“You know that crap’s not real.”

“He is real! He comes out every night and tries to scare me.”

Jacob scoffed, “Out of your head, right? Maybe there’s something wrong with you if you’re seeing monsters. Go to your room.”

The little girl clutched her stuffed elephant. “I can’t…That rhyme is supposed to make it go away. But it won’t this time. It’s in there…now. It eats people.”

Jacob turned off the TV. It was time for bed anyways. The glow that casted the shadows was gone. Now they were in complete dark except for the street lights outside. He turned back towards their bedrooms. His mind tried to conjure up images of what the monster might look like. Shaking his head, he stood and grabbed Gloria’s little hand without even being able to see it. What if the monster was invisible…? No, he gritted his teeth. Time for bed. It didn’t exist. It couldn’t.

Gloria pulled her arm. “Don’t! It’s in there! What are you doing! It’ll eat us both.”

Jacob came to her door which was cracked open. His eyes were adjusting to the dark but he still couldn’t see much inside. He stepped back, scoffing, “There’s nothing in there. Go. If there’s something in there just do what you do to me and keep pestering it for more cookies. Should leave you alone.”

“No! It’s waiting for me. It has old people skin and clacks its teeth together like grandpa did. It tells me it wants to peel my skin off.”

Had she been watching horror movies…Where did she come up with that…? He wanted to flick the light on as images of a scaly thin monster came to his mind but he was too annoyed to want to help her. Slowly and cautiously, he pushed the door open. Blackness surrounded the room. “There’s nothing in here.”

Gloria stepped back. “Because it’s behind you.”

The hairs on Jacob’s neck stood up and his spine straightened. He slowly turned, his mind imagining a tall grotesque creature with bony arms, glowing eyes, and claws for hands. The hallway to his room was empty. He let out a sigh. But it was the two shiny orbs floating by his dresser that made his heart skip a beat. “Shut up, Gloria. You’re freaking me out.”

She darted into her room and closed the door, locking it behind her. The hallway suddenly became a mile long. He slowly made his way back to his room, his eyes never leaving the two orbs. It had to be a trick of the light. But the fear of mutilation kept him back. Gloria was getting the better of him. Even now she was probably laughing quietly. Screw her.

He came to his door, the peering eyes still staring, his eyes still adjusting to the dark, and leapt into his bed, throwing the covers over his face. Trying to sleep he focused on video games and the girl he liked at school but his mind couldn’t rid itself of the terrible monster that could be in his room, watching him lying there helpless. How stupid was the brain if it could conjure up images of things in the dark that weren’t there? How could he let himself be intimidated by a little girl? The mind was a stupid thing, thought Jacob, and the feeling of dread it gave him was unrelenting.

Then he heard movement. First it started as a shuffling, a footstep, then another footstep. It was getting closer…It wasn’t real. It was just his imagination. But the sounds. They were real. Hissing, growling, something terribly hungry, aching for a meal. Its teeth clicked and the sound of slobber leaving its lips echoed off the walls, leaving its helpless prey to wish for a quick death. Jacob clutched his blanket. The shadow monster was in his room. In his house. On his bed. Creeping closer. The bottom of his bed pressed down from a massive weight. It was just a shadow. Just a shadow.

A whimper escaped his throat, a whimper for his mom. It pressed closer, crouching over him. The growling was inches from his face. He could feel the icy hands reaching for him, ready to tear him to pieces. His heart beat faster, faster, until he thought he would die. The blanket started to move on its own, slowly moving down his forehead. He didn’t want to see it. He didn’t want to see anything anymore. His body went limp, his muscles becoming bricks. Why did Gloria have to put this monster in his head? Why did she have to create this terrible thing? Why…why?

He gasped for air, choking on tears and saliva. To think his life would end tonight, shivering, so close to his family yet so far away. Isolated. His mother wouldn’t have her son. His father would be without his boy. Gloria would never able to sleep again. Loss. The end of the world. The birth of eternal suffering. Jacob would be gone. Devoured. Torn asunder at only twelve. He kept his eyes shut and his entire unlived life flashed before them. He would never get to become an architect. Never get to kiss a girl and grow old. Never have kids or his own house. Never know what it’s like to fail. Never know what it’s like to succeed. Never know…

The sheet came down over his face. The growling stopped. He opened his eyes bitterly. There was nothing there. Gasping he sat up and looked around. The monster…had only ever existed in his mind. He smiled. Gloria was right. The monster was only in his head! It was never there. He wasn’t sure if it had ever been there. But the sense of happiness overwhelmed him. That fear and dread were gone, like the monster. He had never felt this alive before. There seemed to be a purpose to it all. He would never be the same again. Tomorrow he would thank Gloria for allowing him to truly understand fear and live his every second of his life like it was the last.