text: Annabelle vs. the Monster Under the Bed “OK, Belly, it’s time for bed.” Mommy closed the book she’d been reading and stood up, plopping Annabelle on her feet. Annabelle really wanted to hear the rest of the story, but she yawned before she could complain. Maybe Mommy was right. Annabelle started to skip down the hall to Mommy’s room before she remembered. *“Big girls sleep in their own beds, Annabelle,”* Mommy had said. *“Don’t worry about monsters. I’ll check under the bed and keep you safe.”* Annabelle had pinkie-promised Mommy that she would sleep in her own bed tonight, and everybody knows you can’t break a pinkie promise. Annabelle had only made that promise after Mommy said she would let her wear her Batgirl costume to bed instead of her jammies. Batgirl was brave, and Annabelle wasn’t afraid of anything when she was Batgirl. At the end of the hall, Annabelle took a deep breath and turned into her own room instead of Mommy’s. She glared at her pretty, white bed with its fluffy, pink comforter. “I *am* a big girl,” she grumbled. “Yes, you are.” Mommy came into the room behind her. She smiled and gave Annabelle a hug. That always made her feel better. “I’m so proud of you.” Annabelle smiled. She liked making her Mommy proud. She took off her hearing aids, or “ear buddies,” as she and Mommy called them, and brushed her hair. Mommy tucked her in, and they said their nighttime prayers. Then it was time for Mommy to check under the bed. Annabelle’s tummy gurgled, and she shivered. She snuggled deep under her covers and refused to be scared. Even if there was a monster under the bed, her Mommy could take him. “No monsters under there!” Mommy announced. Annabelle was happy at first, but then she remembered something. Benjamin at school had said that grown-ups can’t see monsters. She pouted, and Mommy laughed. “I promise, Belly, no monster is going to get you.” She kissed Annabelle on the forehead and tucked the covers more tightly around her. “Love you, Princess.” “Love you too, Mommy.” Mommy turned out the light and shut the door, leaving Annabelle alone for the night. The room looked different in the pink glow of her nightlight. Shadows seemed to dance on the wall, the floor, and the ceiling. Annabelle felt her tummy gurgle again. She squeezed her eyes shut tight. “I’m a big girl. I’m not afraid,” she whispered to herself. She pulled her blanket over her head. Then she heard it. There was a soft rustling noise under the bed. She tried to ignore it. Mommy said that sometimes when we’re scared, our imagination tricks us. Annabelle didn’t think that was very nice of her imagination. She tried to force herself to fall asleep, humming “Let It Go” over and over in her blanket cocoon. It was no use. The rustling kept getting louder. Suddenly, Annabelle was angry. This was *her* room. Who did this monster think he was? She was a *big girl*. More than that, right now, she was *Batgirl.* Annabelle kicked off her covers and hopped onto the floor. She crouched down and glared into the shadows under her bed, hands bunched into angry fists. “Hey, turd-butt!” she hissed, not wanting to wake Mommy. “This is *my* room. I’m not some baby you can scare off. I’m FIVE!” She thrust her palm forward, fingers spread wide. “You have to leave, right now. I’m not afraid of you!” Big, orange eyes blinked open in the dark, and Annabelle jumped back. She didn’t scream, though. She was startled but not scared, because the eyes weren’t actually scary. They...they looked like a cartoon! “You’re not?” A small voice whispered. At least, that’s what Annabelle thought it said. It was hard to tell in the dark, when she couldn’t see its mouth move. She told the monster to *wait there* and ran to the dresser. She popped her purple, sparkly ear buddies into her ears and turned them on. “What?” She asked. “You’re not afraid of me?” “Oh! Nope!” Annabelle popped the ‘p.’ “I’m a superhero. So you better go scare some other kid.” “But I don’t want to scare anybody,” the monster grumbled. Annabelle sighed, exasperated. “Look, can you just come out here? I’m having a hard time hearing you in the dark.” There was a shuffling noise. A bright green hand flopped out from under the bed and then another. They almost looked like paws, Annabelle thought. They were fuzzy, with four stubby fingers tipped with tiny claws. She saw its arms next. They were long and yellow, skinny like noodles. He pulled himself out from under her bed. The monster stood in front of Annabelle, orange eyes blinking owlishly in the pink light. He was shorter than she was, with a fuzzy red body shaped like a big potato. His arms reached all the way down to the floor, where his green hands rested next to his bright green feet. Annabelle couldn’t even see the monster’s legs through his fur, he was so short. She burst out laughing. The monster frowned. He turned to go back under the bed. “Well, if you’re just going to make fun of me...” Annabelle felt bad and stopped laughing. She didn’t mean to hurt his feelings. She grabbed his soft, green paw to stop him. “No, don’t go, I’m sorry!” she cried. “I didn’t mean to laugh. Benjamin just said monsters were big and scary, and that they ate little girls because they have cooties. But you’re not scary, you’re cute!” Annabelle thought the monster blushed under his fur. He even seemed to smile a little. “Who’s Benjamin?” he asked. Annabelle shrugged. “A boy at school.” “Well, Benjamin sounds stupid.” Annabelle giggled and clapped her hands over her mouth. She wasn’t allowed to call people ‘stupid,’ but maybe the monster’s Mommy said that was okay. “What’s your name?” she asked. The monster looked confused. “I don’t think I have one of those. Do you?” “Of course! I’m Annabelle,” she said. She had never heard of somebody not having a name.“If you don’t have a name, what do your parents and your friends call you?” “Oh, I don’t have any of those either,” the monster said. That made Annabelle sad. She wanted to give the monster a hug, but she knew it wasn’t polite to hug people without asking. She guessed the same was true of monsters. Then, she had another idea. “I can be your friend, if you want,” she said. The monster perked up at that. “Really?” Annabelle laughed. “Of course! We can play games and tell each other stories.” The monster grinned. He had two big teeth, one on the top and one on the bottom. “That sounds like fun!” “You’ll need a name,” Annabelle said. Annabelle loved naming things. She had named her puppy, Leo, and all of her stuffed animals had their own names too. She looked at the monster for a few seconds, thinking hard. “I think you look like a Roger!” Annabelle did a motion with her hand when she said it, her first and second fingers crossed. The monster looked confused. “What is that?” He made the same motion with his paw. “It’s your name!” Annabelle did it again. “Roger, in sign. Sometimes it’s hard to hear people talk, so I use my hands to talk too. Like this: Your name is Roger!” The monster watched her hands move with wide eyes. “That’s so neat!” he said. “Is there a sign for Annabelle?” “Yeah, I’ll teach you!” She showed the monster how to sign her name. He grinned his two-toothed smile. “You’ll have to teach me how to say more things in sign!” Annabelle smiled. “Of course, Roger!” She suddenly realized she hadn’t asked the monster if she could call him that. “Is that OK? Do you like that name?” “Oh!” the monster exclaimed. He’d been so interested in learning the signs that he had forgotten. “Yes, it’s a very good name. Roger. I can be Roger.” “*Awesome*.” Annabelle said, emphatically. “I’m glad that you’re not a scary monster, Roger.” Roger laughed, a low, pleasant, rumbly sound. “Me too!” She and Roger stayed awake for a little while longer. They sat on the floor and played with Annabelle’s stuffed animals. She showed Roger her ear buddies, and she taught him how to sign more words. She told him all about kindergarten, and her Mommy, and her puppy, Leo. Before long, her eyes started getting heavy, and she leaned more and more to the side. She almost toppled over, but Roger caught her with a noodly arm. “I think you should go back to bed, Annabelle.” Annabelle pouted, but she knew he was right. She couldn’t stop yawning, and she had to get up early for school tomorrow. “Will you come back tomorrow night?” she asked, hopefully. “Of course! Now that I have a friend!” Roger said. He helped her stand up and tucked her back into bed. “That’s good,” Annabelle sighed. Her eyes were already closed. “I’m glad I met you, Roger.” “Me too, Annabelle,” he said. “Sleep tight!” He patted her hand with a big, fuzzy paw. Annabelle smiled, and Roger slid back under the bed, to wherever monsters go to sleep. Annabelle couldn’t wait to tell Benjamin that he was wrong at school tomorrow. And Mommy would be proud of her for making a new friend! No longer scared of monsters or the dark, she drifted off to sleep to dream about new friends and big, orange eyes.