text: Stuck “Don’t look under the bed.” Mom said and gave me a good night kiss. “Why?” I just had to ask. “Your favorite question again. ‘Why, why, why.’ Well, you might find something you don’t want there. That’s why. Good night.” Mom left the room with the door slightly opened so I could see the hallway light. Then again in the morning, the light was always off. That spooked me each time when I thought about it. Now, here is a different situation, I thought. Why did Mom tell me not to look under the bed? I’d never dreamed of looking under the bed if she didn’t mention it. Why would I? All I will find are half-broken toys, candy wrappers, or possibly a dead mouse since I haven’t heard it running through the ceiling. Curse you, Mom. I closed my eyes and all I could think of was what was under the bed. There should be nothing I couldn’t imagine. Oops, I used the I-word. Imagine. “You can do this. Use your imagination.” That was what Mrs. Koncharofsky would say when we had to do any work in the classroom. “What is 7 times 13? Use your imagination.” She would say. If I can imagine the answer, why am I here to learn how to multiply numbers? I should be home imagining what I want for my lunch and what presents Santa Clause should bring to me under the tree. In time, I was getting sleepy. I should go to bed. After all, I have school tomorrow. I need to save all the imagination for what Mrs. Koncharofsky will ask me in the classroom. I was ready to go to bed in a second if I didn’t hear a cry under the bed. It sounded like a growl. Very light and soft and wimpy growl. “Use your imagination!” Mrs. Koncharofsky’s voice lingered in my head like a doorbell. I don’t want to use my imagination! I shouted in my head. Fortunately, I could not imagine anything could be under the bed, but unfortunately, I was not sleepy anymore. I want to sleep! My heart was shouting at me. But my brain said I am wide awake! What shall I do? Yes, I need to find out what is underneath the bed. But why? It’s probably a cat. We don’t have a cat. A puppy? We don’t have a puppy either. Does Mom want to surprise me with a new pet? It’s a nice thought, but she isn’t that kind of a person. It’s not my birthday or Christmas. There is no chance of that. “Use your imagination!” Why? Mrs. Koncharofsky? Did you imagine that we need to start calling you by your new last name in the middle of the school year? Yes, she was Miss Tanaka, and after a Thanksgiving break, she became Mrs. Koncharofsky. Did you imagine that we had no problem understanding how the marriage system works in the United States? You should’ve kept your last name. It’s easier for us to pronounce and you don’t even look like one of Koncharofsky. “We all need to accept one another.” That’s what she would say. In fact, her husband’s first name was Mike. When he proposed to her, she realized that she would become ‘Koncharofsky.’ She was already in love with him and all, so she said she accepted to become ‘Koncharofsky.’ Wait! I don’t have time to reminisce about my schoolteacher’s fond memory of her last name. There is something under the bed! There was a cry again. This time, it was a bit louder but still sounded frail and weak. I took a deep breath to brace myself. I crawled onto the floor like a snake and peeked under the bed. There they were. Two enormous eyes shining like diamonds glared at me. There was a gigantic monster under the bed. I couldn’t see anything else but those eyes. But they were not shined because of the evil power. They were filled with tears. The monster growled again. “Who are you?” I squeezed out my voice to ask that simple question. “I’m a monster.” His voice was so gentle that I could barely hear. “What are you doing down there?” “I’m supposed to scare you.” “I’m kinda scared. Well done, now goodbye.” “No, I can’t come out of here. I’m stuck.” “How did it happen?” “I am a big monster. I usually use the closet, but there is no closet in your room. So by default, I appear under the bed.” “That doesn’t make any sense. Don’t you know how big you’re?” “Of course, I do. This is the first time this happened to me. You know everything has the first time.” “Yeah, but this is stupid. You know today is a school night, don’t you? I have a math quiz tomorrow. And I’m not good at math, especially fractions.” “Well, I apologize for the inconvenience. But if you’re not scared, I’ll be stuck here forever. Could you scream a bit?” “I can’t do that. Mom will be mad at me. She’s the one who told me not to look under the bed. I don’t want her to know that I found you there.” “You want me to stay here forever?” “Frankly, I don’t care. I need to go to bed. You know, Mom vacuums every morning. Maybe that’s how you can get out of your predicament.” “Predica-what?” “Predicament.” “Whoa, you know a big word.” “Don’t you know what predicament is? How old are you?” “Eight.” “Jesus, I am nine. I thought you guys are a lot older than I am. So at eight, you start scaring human kids?” “Well, kinda. We practice and need to pass the scaring test. I passed it two weeks ago. This is my second week.” “It sounds like you’re an adult already.” “Well, I am on my own.” “Where are your parents?” “They are in Florida. They have already retired from scaring kids. They have pina colada and lie down on the beach.” “Monsters, too, retire in Florida? I’ve never thought that would be possible.” “There are a few beaches just for monsters although we can’t tell them apart from retired old humans from retired monsters. They all wear Hawaiians or moo moos with sunglasses.” “What are moo moos?” “It looks like a big pillowcase. Very colorful, though.” “Who, I had no idea. We are very much alike to each other.” “You know, once, my mom sent me a photo with this humongous head monster in moo moos.” “Really?” “Well, it wasn’t a monster standing next to her. It was an old lady with a towering hairdo. It looks like burning Eifel Tower.” “That’s funny.” “It was....” “What’s wrong?” “I’m so stupid. I should be scaring you.” “Well, but now I’m glad you’re here. I’m getting sleepy with your nice story.” “Really? Good to know.” “Now I’m relaxed and don’t even think about the quiz tomorrow.” “Fractions, huh? Would that scare you?” “No, I just get nervous.” “You know what we do when we are nervous?” “What do you do?” “We imagine the zombies running around with their heads cut off.” “That’s funny. We imagine the chickens instead of zombies, but zombies will do, too.” “Good.” And the monster sighs deeply. “What’s wrong?” “I guess I’ll be stuck here forever. Don’t get me wrong. I am having a great time talking to you.” “Now you said that I can’t go to sleep thinking about you being stuck there forever.” “Sorry.” “Just say something a little scary. Then, I scream lightly. Okay?” “Okay, let’s see.... MOO!” “What’s that?” “Well, if I say BOO, that will surely scare you. I just wanted to scare you slightly.” “Have you scared anybody before?” “Of course, I have. I told you this is my second week.” “What age group?” “They are between three to eight.” “So, I’m your first nine years old.” “Yes. You’re still a child, aren’t you?” “Wrong, you are. We nine-year-olds are more sophisticated than those nose-running, underwear-smelling muddy foot scoundrels.” “I can see that from your choice of words.” “So, you must set up the scene right to scare me. You have some power to do so, don’t you? Or do you just scream like a monster?” “I am a monster.” “So today is a good learning opportunity for you. You have a long career ahead of you as a scarer. You need to improve the technique to scare kids my age.” “Okay, I’m beginning to feel lucky being stuck here.” “Good.” “First, you must create an eerie atmosphere. The door closes for no reason. The wind blows in and splatters the curtains.” “I can’t do that. I don’t have those powers.” “What do you have?” “I have large shiny eyes with pointy sharp teeth.” “That’s scary. Good. What else?” “I can do a voice.” “You mean, you can sound like someone else?” “Yes. Ahem... ‘We all love China, China, China, Let’s make America even greater again.’” “Are you sure you’re here to scare kids?” “I saw that on TV the other day in a kid’s bedroom. She left a TV on.” “Who else can you do?” “Let’s see... ‘Come down here, Samuel Moses Anderson! Right this second!” I screamed! The monster sounded just like Mom. The door opened. There stood Mom. “What happened?” “Nothing.” “Nothing?” “Did you peak under the bed?” Mom smiled. “Of course, not.” I looked away from her. “Okay. Do you want me to stay until you fall asleep?” “No. I’m too sophisticated for that.” “How about this?” Mom kissed me on my cheek. “Good night, Mom.” “Good night.” Mom left the room with the door slightly opened. I took a deep breath, and it became quiet in the room. I heard nothing from under the bed no more. The End