The Monster Under the Bed

Written by Kath McGill as told by Evageline Wind

This is the story of the Monster under the bed. It has changed over the years, but there are still some things that have stayed the same. No one really knows who told it the first time- its not something a parent would tell, though every story has some grain of truth in it.

Once upon a time there was a little girl who would not just go to sleep when it was time. She would wiggle and squiggle and call out to her parents for water or that she had to go potty, or she would just spend time jumping up and down on her bed having a delightful time or she would leave her bed to sneak down stairs to see what her parents were doing.

She wouldnt clean up her room ether, or make her bed, and some would say she was a very naughty little girl.

One night after the 20th time that her parents had carried her back up to her bed and closed the door She was Just ready to jump out of the bed to see if she could race her dad down the hall when she thought she heard something. She started to slide her leg over the side and dangle her foot as it got closer to the floor when...

A big hairy claw reached out and grabbed her ankle!

Of course she screamed and her father came back into the room very upset. He asked her what she was doing, and she replied fearfully that there was something under the bed and it had grabbed her ankle!

He did look under the bed for her, but everyone knows when a monster closes his eyes an adult cant see them. He scolded her and went out and closed the door. Almost right away the monster under the bed started to bump the mattress up and down.

This of course made her scream again, and got her a proper scolding from her father who informed her that he wasn't coming in their any more that night and that her mother and he were going to bed.

with that the dad closed the door and went down stairs. The little girl dared to peek over the edge of the bed and looked down. She saw 29 big eyes looking up at her and this big hairy thing with many arms waving them at her. the only way that she could escape the grasp of the arms was to lay very still in the center of the bed and hop that it would forget her.

for a while it bumpped her up and down and side to side. She finaly asked "What are you? how did you get here?"

It replied "Im the monster under the bed, I live off of grade A dust, which you have a great deal under this bed!! "

All through the night she felt him try to get his claws into her, and he would bump her until she fell asleep exhausted.

The very next morning she went downstairs and got a broom! it took her most of the morning to clean up her things,and to get rid of the dust that was under the bed.

Alarmed the Monster moved to the closet while she worked, slinking away from the bright sunlight so that he just looked like the days shadow.

She saw where he had hid, and with renewed courage, she cleaned her closet as well. When she was done, and he was forced to cling to the smallest darkest corner of the room which was behind her toy box. He realized that she wasn't afraid of him any more.

"Now what are you going to do?" she asked as she shoved aside the toybox to clean behind it.

"Find another bed" it said slithering over the wall into the growing after noon.

This is not the end of this monsters tail, there is more...
To rid ones self of monsters there are two ways that are known by the older kids and told to the younger ones- one, to face them head on,,,

the other...

to give them a silly name- they tend to flee at laughter directed at them,

So if you have monsters under the bed, or in the closet....

RUN!! ITS GONNA EAT YOU!!!

-)