Book of Short Stories

Fierce Warrior

Based on the prompt: Protecting children from monsters under the bed since 1902

Lia settled down in bed, her mother tucked the blankets closely around her and put Snowflake, a light blue teddy bear, next to her.

"Good night, sweetheart. Sweet dreams."

"Night mommy," Lia grinned up at her mother, but soon her expression turned grave, "But mommy... Can you check for monsters under the bed?"

Her mother chuckled, "Sweety, there are no monsters under the bed."

"But can you check anyway?" Her mother complied and reassured Lia that there were, indeed, no monsters.

Little Lia gradually went into a fitful sleep. She was tossing and turning because of a nightmare. And that Nightmare was standing over her. Long and bony, with sharp teeth and claws. It grinned evilly, saliva dripping out its mouth. Its soulless black eyes burned with a greedy fire, it fed off of the fear of little children. The monster would only grow bigger as it continued to feed.

Suddenly there was a bright light by Lia's shoulder. The blankets started moving, and out from the covers came Snowflake. She was armed with a wooden sword. Already in fighting position. She ran toward the monster with a tiny yell, "Die you evil scum!" Snowflake tried to land a blow on the Nightmare but failed to do so. The Nightmare drew closer to Lia and growled at Snowflake, a wolf protecting its meal.

"You must go away, Nightmare! This child is protected by me and no one shall hurt her!" Snowflake backed up to get a running start to launch herself at the monster. She jumped and landed on Nightmare's shoulder. The little bear instantly crawled to the back of the monster and stabbed the wooden sword into the base of its neck. The monster gave out a low, loud growl and clawed for the teddy bear.

Lia stirred in her bed, but was still unaware of the battle that was going on. Snowflake took a glance at Lia and furrowed her nonexistent eyebrows, giving Nightmare a chance to grab Snowflake off from his back. She struggled to get out of his death grip causing a rip to form on the backside of her right armpit. Using a different tactic, she started stabbing the monster's enormous hands. Nightmare growled in pain and threw Snowflake across the room. Snowflake hit the wall and grunted when she made contact with the floor, but the little bear was unstirred by this and immediately picked herself up from the ground.

"I said, go away!" Snowflake thundered. She held up her sword, a shot of pain bloomed in her arm. The teddy bear had so much resolve to protect Lia that nothing could stop her from doing that. She would not rest until the monster disappeared.

Snowflake charged once more, but instead of jumping, she stayed on the ground and attacked its legs and feet. She pierced the monster's right foot twice and then moved on to wound the left leg. Her plan was to weaken the legs and then strike the torso.

The monster stumbled and couldn't lay a claw on Snowflake. She moved like lightning, being somewhere and gone the next second to another place. I will come out as the winner, Snowflake thought, I must, for Lia's sake.

Snowflake managed to weaken Nightmare and lure him away from Lia. She rejoiced inside for this little victory, but she was not done with the task at hand. Snowflake prepared to make her final strike, she grasped the wooden sword with two hands. The monster was trying to heal its wounds, but there was just too many. While it was distracted, Snowflake charged for a final time and with a mighty leap she dug the wooden sword into Nightmare's chest. The sword splintered making it more painful for the monster. It yelled out in pain and disappeared into a flurry of smoke.

Snowflake picked herself off the ground and went to Lia's bed. She smiled at the now peaceful child and pecked her on the cheek.

"I would never let anything hurt you," with that said, Snowflake settled under the covers.