Chapter 3: The Journey
Although Carol tried not to let on that the story had frightened her, her mother knew it had, when she would see Carol standing in her bedroom doorway, staring at her bed.
Hoping it would help her daughter feel safer, she would wait by the door, while Carol ran across the room and leapt into the bed for the night. Carol was particularly careful not to touch the floor too close the edge of the bed. With the blankets pulled up over her head, Carol would lay dead still, not moving a muscle, as the lights went out. After a few minutes, Carol would slowly look out from under the covers, straining to see if she could spot anything moving around in her room.
One day, her mother stopped waiting for Carol to run and get into bed before turning the light out for her.
“You are old enough not to be afraid of imaginary trolls or monster hiding in your room; it is time for you to grow up,” is all she would say.
“Shadow monsters don’t care how old you are,” Carol whispered each night as she ran on tiptoe to leap into bed. Carol hoped she was quiet enough not to be heard by her parents. If they did hear her, they never let on.
As the weeks went by without hearing or seeing anything, Carol found herself starting to believe that the creatures hiding under the bed did not really exist. That is, until one night, when her parents had a couple over for a visit. Carol knew she wasn’t supposed to be listening in on their conversation. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help overhearing it from where she was sitting in the kitchen.
“The full moon makes the crazies come out and roam the streets,” Mary said, while helping Carol’s mom pour some tea. “You know, we had a near miss with one on the way over here tonight. One of them ran right out in front of our car. It was almost as if they were trying to get us…” Mary’s voice trailed off, before she finished what she was saying.
“They are everywhere when there’s a full moon out,” Carol’s mom added.
They? Did she say they? You mean there’s more than one of them out there?
Getting up from the kitchen table and walking over to the window, Carol stared out into the light layer of fog shrouding their front yard. If there was one thing the small English township they lived in was famous for, it was fog. Everyone could count, on each night, for it to silently roll in like a ghostly specter.
While looking out the window, Carol was sure, that she could see a crazy out in the yard, trying to sneak in closer to the house to get her. Carol could not help wondering if it was these crazies, that they were talking about. They would come into your home, and hide under your bed, waiting to pull you under, and eat you! Alas, Carol was back at square one; back to fearing the dark places in her room.
After managing to scare herself, Carol slowly crept into her room, while being sure to leave the light on for safety. Not wanting to take any chances, Carol shoved everything she could under the bed, making sure to leave no room for the crazies to hide under there. So far, Carol figured that this had worked out well, since she was still in one piece every morning.
The next time Mary and her husband came over to visit, Carol hid just out of sight. She listened in on another conversation, in case they had any more news about the crazies who came out to roam the streets at night.
Instead of Mary and her husband bringing any additional news to share, Carol’s dad was the one who had a surprise to share with them.
Carol became instantly excited to hear he was going to be moving his family to America, in order to take on a position with a new company setting up over there.
Carol had heard a lot about America. How everything was marvelous and full of opportunity; she was sure it would be a grand adventure.
Not wanting to waste any time getting away from the crazies, Carol was up early the next morning, packing everything in her room. Except for the things she had placed under her bed, she was sure this was the only thing keeping the creatures living under there from getting her. Carol knew they would stop at nothing to get their claws into her, when they found out that she was about to escape to America.
Entering her daughter’s room to get her for breakfast, Carol’s mother smiled coyly, “I guess you heard the news about us moving again,” she remarked, as she surveyed all the items that Carol had packed up all ready.
“Yes!” Carol almost shouted, hardly able to contain her excitement.
“Well, you are packing a little too soon, Little One. We still have to check on departure dates and book passage,” Carol’s mom said, as she walked out into the hallway to head back to the kitchen.
Carol didn’t care, they were moving away from here. After all the good things she had heard about America, Carol was sure they couldn’t possibly have any horrible creatures living over there, and she would not have to be afraid anymore.