Monsters Under My Bed

Prologue

They're out to get me.

They always have.

Ever since I was little, they've been out to get me.

And they have.

Over and over they've come.

Crawling out of the shadows.

They come and laugh at me.

Hurt me.

Ever since I was little.

I'm twenty now.

Single, living in my apartment in the city.

I have a job as a cashier at Target.

But when I go home, at night, before I lay down for bed, I get prepared.

I set out the things to keep them away.

Any good luck charm, any superstitious practice, to keep them away.

They still come, oh yes, they still come.

But they can't get me.

Unless I forget.

Unless I do something wrong.

Unless someone is with me.

They never seem to work if someone is with me.

That's why I'm alone.

So alone.

Most of my life.

When I was young, very young, I had friends.

I was popular.

But then they came.

People thought I was strange, afraid of the dark and night, especially as time went on.

The strange boy who screams in fear at the dark.

Honestly, I'm not afraid of the dark.

No, no, not at all.

I'm afraid of what's in the dark.

Waiting.

Waiting so long.

During the light hours where they can't go.

Waiting.

For me.

The monsters in the dark.