In this piece of flash fiction we follow the experience of a young boy who seems to have a monster lurking around in their bedroom. This piece was written for English 351 as part of an assignment to write a monster story in 300 words.

Little Timmy sat in his room alone observing the dark corners. For the last several nights he’d taken to doing this out of fear of the monster. He heard it first outside his window. The rustling of bushes made for a rude awakening and Timmy stared out of it into the open street. Although he could see nothing, he knew he’d most certainly heard it. His young mind could only picture the horrific monster that awaited him as the heavy footsteps drew near. 

The next day after school poor Timmy arrived in his room only to find his window open. He’d heard the legends from his peers of course of monsters in the night, but never had he been told of them during the day. Panicked, he called for his dear mother to search the room. While skeptical she tenderly searched, under the bed, in the closet, and behind the furniture. This was the common tactic of monsters to hide in the dark places til their victim was asleep and most mothers knew this. Still, she found nothing.

That night though Timmy heard a noise. Before he could even detect where it was coming from he quickly pulled the blankets over his head and hid his face. A powerful tactic to deter any monster. If you can’t see them they can’t see you. Perhaps they’re not clever enough to figure out how to get them once the blanket covers their face. Still, after Timmy had done this he heard the footsteps around his bed and felt a shape block out the light from the window. Petrified with fear though he didn’t utter a word.

That brings us to tonight, and Timmy is growing tired. He’s been staying up out of fear of the monster. Except I get the feeling this will be the last night he’ll have to do this. This will be the last night because I will have gotten what I wanted after tonight. You see, poor Timmy I’m not like other monsters. I know not to show myself too early. Doing that would force any fear out of you. The next morning you’d write me off as a nightmare and I’d never be truly feared. I also know a hiding spot of two that most mothers don’t know about. Most importantly though I think after last night I figured out how that little blanket trick of yours works…