Short Story Collection

Good Monster

Monsters are bad.

Its common knowledge. The monsters under the bed: bad. The monster in the wardrobe: bad. The monster in the hallway: bad, the monster in the shadows: bad, the monster looking in from outside: bad.

I used to think there was an exception.

Among the snarling, hideous creatures in the shadows was a little girl with long blonde hair and skin so pale it glowed. Whenever I saw her, she would always be smiling at me, wearing a pale pink dress and sometimes clutching a purple, sparkly hairbrush. Somehow, her glow made me feel better. She'd sometimes sit at the foot of my bed as the other monsters tried to get to me, whispering words of encouragement to me, brushing her hair with her hairbrush and sometimes singing softly. Sometimes, if a monster got to close, she'd even make it go away. She'd help me through the night, talking to me, her voice smooth and warm, her green eyes sparkling with understanding, sympathy and confidence. Her glow would even help drive the shadows away, just a little bit further away. I was grateful. I trusted her.

As I got older, the monsters got worse. They came from other places now, and the girl came less often. When she did, I asked her where she'd been. She said she couldn't help me with a few of those monsters, but she said she'd protect me, that things would get better.

But she lied. Things never got better, and she never really protected me. 

You know, theres another stereotype: The nastiest looking the monsters are the worst. The most scary looking are the most evil. 

That's not true.

It's the friendliest monsters that are the worst. The ones that guide you through the night, giving you the stamina not to loose your sanity. The ones that tell you the future will be better, that the worst is over. The ones that prolong the pain, that gain your trust. And it's not the monsters that lived in the shadows, outside, under the bed or in the wardrobe that are the worst, it's the ones that live in your heart.

It took me a long time realise what she was doing. 

It took me a long time to stop trusting Hope.