Gremlins Under My Bed

To Bed

I hesitated, then accepted the embrace of my mother. She hugged me close. "It will be all right, you'll see. Come on." She released me from her hug and held out her hand. Tentatively, I reached out and accepted her hand, and together we walked up the stairs.

"See?" My mother said, as we finished our circle of the room. "We checked under the bed, in your closet, in your toybox, and in your dresser!" I shook my head. The gremlins were there. They were always there. It didn't matter where you looked.

"Look sweetie, you need to sleep. It's already past your bedtime. I can get your nightlight if you want?"

"Nooooo! That's stupid!" I squealed. Even though I would have liked nothing better. I had forgotten about my nightlight. I hadn't used it in a long time.

When I was smaller, I had been plagued by nightmares. All sorts of fantastical creatures would invade my dreams, from treacherous toads, to gruesome gouls, to rampaging unicorns. Nothing was sacred or sane in my dreams. These creatures would raze villages, terrorize my family, tourture my friends, and chase me. Always chasing me.

My parents, having had enough nights of me waking up screaming, and then sleeping in their bed, finally broke down and got me a nightlight. Miraculously it worked -- the nightmares stopped. The nightlight's green glow brought a calm to the room, and my dreams. But since I started school I had stopped using it. The nightmares didn't return, but the gremlins did.

The gremlins hadn't showed up right away, but they came, and they terrified me.