The Monster

The Monster

         Susan Sourbox stands at the island of her poorly lit, brown kitchen. The wood paneling blurs into the yellow nicotine stained floor and ceiling. From where she stands the counter top disappears into the dark brown shag carpeting of the living room. She pours red wine into a blue plastic cup with an apprehensive glance at each door way. Pill by pill she fills the plastic measuring cup from a bottle of NyQuil making a cocktail of Prozac, anti-depressants, and pain killers. After quickly shooting the small cup of medication she guzzles the wine. Her body- all to accustomed to this routine- begins to pump endorphins in response to the daily surge of escape. The sounds of her daughter singing along to “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid float into the kitchen.

         The nine-year-old sits indian style about four feet form the wood grain console television that rests on the floor; she bounces and sways to each syllable. Susan walks through the living room passing between Elli and the TV, she presses the eject button on the VCR with out breaking stride.
“Time for bed Elli.” she says, walking down the hallway to the master bedroom. It’s the last door on the left.

         She returns in an instant to confiscate the tape and retreats back to the bedroom. Elli, not deterred at all, somersaults to the tv and reaches in between the bookshelf and the television and produces a blank VHS tape. She shoves the tape in the VCR and rolls back to her original position. The tape begins to play, it’s cued to the beginning of the “Under the Sea”. Susan rushes through the doorway into the hall putting earrings on as she walks. She Passes between Elli and the TV again.
“I said now.” she says sternly, but continues to walk through into the kitchen.
Moments later she returns to the living room and Elli, well into the second verse, stops singing when she is confronted with crossed arms and an angry face.
“But I’m not tired.” Elli tries.
“That doesn’t matter,” Susan retorts, “Mommy has to go to choir practice at the church.”
“I know but-”
“But what?”
“Can I go with you?”
“No, absolutely not, I’ll be home much too late and you have to go to school in the morning.”
“Please, I’ll get up all by my self tomorrow.”
“I said no.”
Elli hops to her feet. “But why?”
“Because I said so, that’s why,” Now off to bed, “Lets go, I’m late enough as it is.”

         Elli mopes across to the TV and pulls out her copy of The Little Mermaid. Susan pats her on the back and they walk into the hallway. They slow at the first door on the right and enter Elli’s room.
“And what have I told you about leaving these lights on?” the tall brunette says, entering.

         The room is saturated in light. Two 100 watt light bulbs make it impossible to see the center of the pink blades on the ceiling fan. White Orbs burn through the orange, opaque shades of the lamps on either side of Elli’s bed. A final lamp illuminates a table covered in crayons, paper and other art supplies; and her closet. Each slat of the door is painted alternating colors of the rainbow. The room is devoid of shadow.
“Now into bed.” She says, the way a mother sounds saying something for the tenth time.

         Elli climbs into bed, fighting to pull the sheets out that are tucked into the bottom of the bed and sits up as Susan swats the switch near the door frame. Not much changes. As Susan makes her way to each lamp shadows crawl out of each corner, growing and contorting. The only light in Elli’s room is the lamp on Elli’s side of her bed.
“Mommy, I’m scared.” Elli murmurous.
Susan sits on the edge of the bed. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” she tries to reassure her daughter. “Now lie down.” Susan pulls the covers up to Elli’s neck as she slides deeper in to bed. “What is it that scares you?”
“Why do you have to leave every Wednesday night?” “You know I have choir practice,” Susan answers “Are you worried something might happen to me when I’m gone?”
“No.” Elli replies quickly. She pauses for a long time and stares at her toes. “I’m scared the monster will come back.”
“Monster, Elli there’s no such thing as monsters.”
“Yah huh” Elli spits, but is afraid to support her argument.
A condescending “awwww,” escapes Susan’s mouth. “Here I’ll show you.” She gets up and leans down to look under the bed. “See, nothing.” as she sweeps her arm under the bed. There are no toys under the bed, there is nothing under the bed, not even dust bunnies. Walking across the room she looks back and asks “are you scared something will pop out of the closet and get you?” She pulls the closed doors open.

         Elli stares at her closet for a moment, then her eyes run across the four feet of sheet rock that separate her closet door from the door that leads into the rest of the house. She stares at the wall across the hall from her room and becomes lost in thought.
“Elli,” Elli snaps back into reality “Is this what you’re scared of?” Susan points to a small door that serves as a secondary entrance to the attic.
“No.” Elli says unenthusiastically
“Okay, well mommy has to go now, don’t worry, theres nothing to be scared of.” Susan says as she walks back toward Elli’s bed. She pulls the down comforter up to Elli’s chest, kisses her on the forehead and clicks off the lamp beside the bed. She doesn’t look back as she exits the room and pulls the door behind her.

         Elli is immersed in darkness. She waits. Through the open window she hears Susan get into her car and drive into the cool October night. She waits. She talks her self into putting her feet on the floor. Without a sound she moves across the room and pulls open the second drawer of her dresser. Slowly and silently she closes the drawer, leans down and plugs the first of two night lights into a socket near the dresser. Light stabs through the darkness. As she walks away from the light and slides across the room she is as quiet as the shadow she follows. She plugs in the other night lite, a dim purple glow fills the room. She quickly moves toward her rainbow closet and opens it, without a sound she produces a line of fishing string that has five bundles of soda cans attached to it by the tabs. She turns and ties one side of the string to the leg of her bed and the other side to a pre positioned tack a foot off of the floor in the wall across from her bed. She leaps back into bed and covers up. She waits. She pulls the comforter up to the bridge of her nose. She sucks in the warm carbon dioxide that has already passed though her lungs. She burrows under the covers and finds her glow worm. She curls into the fetal position, the top of her head resting under the bottom of her pillow. She feels slightly safer in her cloth tent.
“Don’t worry, I wont let anything happen to you, ” Elli whispers to her glow worm as she squeezes it. The smiling face happily lights up “I set a boobie trap this time.”

         The only sound is Elli breathing, hot under the wrinkled dome of cotton security. She waits. She opens her mouth to utter some more reassuring words to her nighttime companion when she hears the cans rattle, then stop suddenly. She inhales sharply. Silence burns her ears. She hears the scratch of wood on wood as the window slowly slides closed, and a final thump as it hits the sill. Muffled through the blanket, she hears the slow decent of the venetian blinds, followed by the squeak of the thin plastic rod as it spins and the blinds rotate from open to closed. Elli’s whole face flinches as she squeezes her eyes closed. She waits. Her body rocks gently as a great pressure is carefully placed on the small twin mattress. She feels a tug on the blanket, her eyes slam open, and it slowly slides off of her. She stairs blankly, her back turned to the mass on her bed, her knees tucked into her chest. She is too afraid to look back.
“What’cha doin’ sweet pea?” the deep, gentle voice says as a hand tugs on Elli’s shoulder. She rolls over and meets eyes with her Father through his large dark rimmed glasses.
“Wanted to come see how you were doin’.” he says as he pats her on the knee. Elli stares up at him with eyes glazed by tears. She holds her breath and closes her eyes as his hand slides up her thigh and into her panties.