My Halloween Tale

I am paralyzed with fear. I am seven years old, and except for a tiny sliver of moonlight coming through my closed bedroom curtains, I am all alone in the dark. I lie buried in the folds of the feather mattress with a heavy quilt pulled up to my chin. I dare not move, not even to pull the quilt over my head, because I know the slightest movement will attract its attention.

I see my closet door out of the corner of my eye . . . open. Mom always checks my closet and then shuts the door when she tucks me in. Did she forget, or did she close it and now something else has opened it?

It has been waiting for me, waiting for its chance.

There is sudden movement across my window. A fleeting shadow, but I saw it.
My throat is too dry to cry out, and even if I did, my parents are too far down the hall to help me. They would never get here in time.

The room is cold but I am sweating. My heart is beating so fast it hurts my chest. My stomach is rolling and I need to go to the bathroom.

Light . . . I need light. Everyone knows monsters are afraid of the light. If I jump out of bed very quickly, I might make it to the light switch before it gets me. No, I cannot take that chance.

Oh, my god! It is under my bed. I can hear it breathing in short, raspy, hungry breaths.
I can smell it now, like rotten eggs, and it burns my nose and eyes. I know in any second that I will see its claws and then its snarling face slowly rising above the foot of my bed.
“Please” I whimper, as I close my eyes, praying for it to go away.

I feel a tug on the quilt, just a little. Warm urine soaks my underwear and runs down between my legs.

I am going to die.

Sobbing now, I repeat over and over, “There is no such thing as ghosts or monsters.”

I know it is useless. Soon, very soon, I will feel the vise-like grip of its claw around my ankle, and then I will be dragged out and then under my bed, and way down to a place from which children never return.

“There is no such thing as ghosts or monsters. There is no such thing as . . .

tagged for a literary meme

I was tagged by Anne Frasier (static ) for a literary meme.

The rules are:

1. Take first five novels from your bookshelf. 2. Book 1 -- first sentence. 3. Book 2 -- last sentence on page 50. 4. Book 3 -- second sentence on page 100. 5. Book 4 -- next to the last sentence on page 150. 6. Book 5 -- final sentence of the book. 7. Make the five sentences into a paragraph. 8. Feel free to "cheat" to make it a better paragraph. 9. Name your sources.10.Post to your blog.

Okay, here goes:

"Have you reached a verdict?" Judge Alfred Neff asked the eight men and four women seated in the jury box. Unlike some of the other rooms, this one had a regular stand-up shower. He's not going to welcome a call from a woman in emotional meltdown. And the boy listened, and he remembered all that he was told. It was no doubt grief preying on my imagination, drunken thinking taking voice.

Sources:

Gone, But Not Forgotten -- Phillip Margolin

Before I Wake -- Anne Frasier

Body Double -- Tess Gerritsen

Bad Men -- John Connolly

The Opposite Of Fate -- Amy Tan

* We have all seen you popping in and out of these blog sites leaving sometimes adequate comments. The time has come for you to step out of the dark and into the light. On behalf of all those taking part in this meme . . .

I tag:

anonymous