Featherscape Tickle Story Collection

A Boy and his Tickle Monster

“Is your phone charged?” Georgia asked, hastily searching through her purse. The woman’s fingers scanned the bag for her daily necessities. The preparations for her scheduled routine had her running behind. She frantically searched for her keys through her bag. Her son, Riley, stood before her, arms crossed as he backed away toward the stairs.

“Yes, mom,” Riley said, groaning at how cautious his mother could still be after eighteen years.

“You have cash on you in case you have to take the toll anywhere?” Georgia asked. She inched toward the front door. The woman retrieved a stylish blazer from a coat rack and threw it over her shoulders. Only recently turned thirty nine, Georgia’s well maintained features and healthy body made her appear much younger still for someone with a son preparing for college. People tended to notice her son shared a similar anti-aging gene. Riley’s eyes darted, his voice rushed with urgency.

“Somewhere, I’m sure,” Riley said. The tall, slender boy anxiously looked up the stairs to his room. He brushed aside his golden bangs, tossing his hair as his eyes shifted between his mother and the top of the stairs. A clean Hollister shirt clung to his body, healthy with toned muscle. His breathing became hurried the longer his mother took to leave. Riley scratched the back of his head to get a good look at his bedroom door at the top of the stairs, making sure it was fully closed.

“Okay, honey,” Georgia said without looking up from her bag. “Ah, found them.” The woman pulled out a keychain, where several keys of varying functions dangled next to a shamrock charm. “I swear, if I was any closer, it would have bit me.” Riley chuckled at his mother’s regular misuse of common phrases.

“Alright, then,” Riley said in a pushing tone.

“I’ll only be gone for a couple hours while I run a few errands,” Georgia said. “Is there anything you need while I’m out?” Riley smiled at how catering his mother had been recently after he had been accepted into his first choice school. While he always imagined it being a different situation, the realization that she was trying to baby her boy for as long as she still could was almost heartbreaking. Still, his plans remained waiting for her departure.

“Nope, nothing,” Riley said. “Drive safe.” Riley rubbed his mother’s back in a subtle gesture that was lost on neither of them.

“Okay, well, text me if you think of something,” Georgia said. She pulled her son in for a hug. “I love you.”

“Love you too, mom,” Riley said. He patted his mother on the back, a move they both recognized was his code for requesting privacy. Georgia gave her son a quaint smile before turning to the front door. Riley held it open for her as she passed through. The boy quickly shut the door, locking it behind him, and darted up the stairs. Riley slipped into his room and closed the door behind him. He sighed. Riley let his head fall back against the door. He slipped his fingers into his hair, rubbing his scalp. He looked into his room. Much had been packed up for college while the rest was a collection of knick knacks from childhood he planned to leave behind when he moved. A plastic Millenium Falcon dangled from his ceiling by clear twine. A chest of toys and stuffed animals sat against the far wall, unopened for years. Academic accolades hung from the walls in frames, rewards he had once been so happy to achieve, yet had long since lost their valor. Riley walked up to the edge of his bed. “Alright, you can come out.”

“Yay, Riley!” A tall, lanky figure popped out from under Riley’s bed. The creature wore two large, animated eyes that found complete excitement in everything they fell upon. Feathery soft red and blue fur covered its entire body. Its arms and legs were frail and noodly, yet served to hold up its equally light build with ease. It wore a long smile with a forked tongue. The monster’s hands and feet were large, and bore lengthy fingers and toes. Its voice was playful and innocent, nearly infantile in dialect. It radiated a harmless nature for a boyhood monster. Riley stood unfazed, staring back at the creature.