A Darker Reality

Six Years Later...

"Cecily! Cecily!"

The childish scream startled her. It wasn't the normal call for assistance; it was a cry of fear. She put the sketchpad aside, stood from the couch, and jogged to Marley's bedroom.

"Cecily!" he cried again as she threw open the bedroom door and flicked on the light.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's back again! The monster is in my room!" the boy cried helplessly, pulling the blankets up to his chin and staring wide-eyed at her.

Cecily looked at him with the mixed emotions of annoyance and pity. Marley had another nightmare. Lately he had been having a lot of bad dreams, which made him paranoid. Apparently, a lot of his nightmares were related to to a scary story that he was told once about a monster that lived in the woods of Oakside that kidnapped children to fatten them up and eat them. Cecily had tried more than once to convince him that it was only a story and that the monster wasn't real, but it never worked.

"Where is it?" she asked.

"In the closet," the little boy said.

"Alright. Go wait outside; I'll take care of this."

He scrambled out of bed and ran past her out of the bedroom. She shut the door behind him and looked around the room. She had to make this performance realistic, or else Marley wouldn't leave her alone all night.

"Alright you big, ugly monster," she said in a mock-fearless tone, "Where are you? I told you to leave Marley alone. I guess I'll have to teach you another lesson. Come on out! Don't tell me you're scared of the babysitter."

She walked over to the closet and opened it. "Ah-ha! There you are, you big nasty monster! You're not that scary! Get over here!" She stomped back over to Marley's bed. "Don't you run away from me! Gotcha!" she said while snatching up one of his pillows. "Take that! And that!" she shouted while punching the pillow.

Now she needed a final touch for her performance. She quickly glanced around the room and noticed Marley's small wastebasket sitting in the corner of the room. Perfect.

"Now I'm gonna stick you where you belong: in the garbage!"

She pulled the garbage bag out of the can and tied it up.

She opened the door to find Marley watching her, expectantly. She held up the garbage bag and said proudly, "I took care of it, just like I said."

Marley peered at the garbage bag. "You threw it in the trash?"

"Yep. Wanna see?" she asked while holding the bag out to him.

He took a step back, repulsed. "No!"

She laughed a little. "Alright. Well, it's safe now, so you can go back to bed, right?"

He nodded. "What are you gonna do with the monster?" he asked while nodding to the bag.

"Don't worry about the monster. I'll make sure he gets a good night's sleep in the dumpster."

Marley giggled a little. "Okay. Thanks Cecily."

Cecily walked outside and threw the small bag in the dumpster by the side of the road. As she turned to walk back inside, she felt an odd feeling that sent chills up and down her spine. She stopped in her tracks and glanced around the front yard. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until something caught her eye near some trees across the road. It looked like the silhouette of a very tall, thin person. It was odd, because she could clearly see the shape of a person, but at the same time it seemed to blend in perfectly with the trees.