Monsters Under The Bed

[Zen]

At first they dismissed the noises and movement, thinking that it was their own imagination doing all of this. After all, they were old enough to not believe in fairy tales. But after the first night, the disruptions continued, sometimes well into the early morning. They both heard it though, that rattling and heavy breathing. How embarrassing it was to call Rebecca up to check under their beds - they were teenagers, they shouldn't have been scared. And yet their foster mother didn't find anything, just dust bunnies and a lost key ring. Perplexed, she told the children it was their imagination and they should put it out of their minds. But one was brave enough and one night with the moon light spilling into their room, Leah got onto the floor, lifted up her sheets and looked under...

And then she was taken.

Large massive claws suddenly shot out from the darkness, clutching painfully at Leah's sides. She screamed, her pinned arms preventing her from fighting back. With his claws digging deep into Leah's sides, he drew blood. Leah's foster sibling tried to pull her back but it was futile. Collasping upon the floor, the sibling watched as Leah disappeared in the darkness.

Moments later, Rebecca opened the door. She looked concerned, her eyes landing on one sole face, scrutinizing. About to speak, and tell her that the impossible happened, Rebecca spoke first.

"... Is everything alright? I heard screaming."

"Rebecca! Leah's missing! Some monster appeared under her bed and - "

Their foster mother frowned deeply. "Leah? T-There's no Leah here sweet heart." Bewilderment crossed her face, only to be replaced with a cross look. "I hopeyou haven't been picking up bad habits. I'm searching your things first thing tomorrow morning..." She shook her head, muttering, "First it's monsters and now this."

She made a sound of frustration, then shut the door behind her. How could their foster mother have forgotten about Leah?​

 

[Elyd]

Ashley couldn't help but stare blankly at Rebecca. Leah had just been there, and now she didn't exist to Rebecca. What did that mean? It was a conundrum she doubted even Harriet the Spy could fathom, and she had figured out who was leaving those notes all over town in The Long Secret. Ashley grabbed her notebook from the bedside table and took it to the other side of the room, where she sat down and opened the notebook to the next blank page. She watched the bed for a moment, making sure it was quiet for a few minutes so she could write down what had just happened.

She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before beginning to write.

KNOWN: Noises have been coming from under the bed.
KNOWN: Rebecca found nothing important when she checked.
ALSO KNOWN: Leah was here. She decided to look under the bed. Now she's gone.

UNKNOWN: Why Rebecca says Leah isn't here. Also, what Rebecca hopes to find when she searches my things.​

Ashley scribbled that last sentence out so that Rebecca wouldn't see it if she looked through her notebook. She always assumed Ashley was writing bad things in her notebook, which wasn't true. Ashley would much rather write about happy things in her notebook, like living in the Caribbean with her dad. He sent her a postcard once. Why couldn't he have taken her with him?

She chewed her lip again and turned to a blank page.

Anyone reading this: We decided to Investigate the World Under the Bed.
Signed, Ashley and Leah​

Probably Rebecca wouldn't remember who Ashley was either, so it didn't really matter if she signed Leah's name too. But someone had to go after Leah, or she would be abandoned somewhere even worse than here. Ashley tore the page out and set it very carefully on the bedside table. Then she grabbed a backpack and put her notebook and some pens in it, along with a blanket and a flashlight. She took a deep breath. She was headed under the bed.

"I can do this," Ashley said softly. "I can." She crouched down, squinted into the darkness, and started crawling...

 

[Zen]

The journey under the bed was a short one but the thing about traveling through a place that you've never explored is that it seems to take longer. Seconds extend to minutes, the minutes extend to hours and time itself becomes something one cannot track. The wooden floors of their bedroom became soft and mushy - dirt. There weren't even any dust bunnies. Roots snagged onto clothing and the tunnel was filled with a pungent earthy scent. Sound didn't travel far, muffled by the dirt around Ashley. At last, when the girl came to the opening she met a most wondrous and queer sight.

There was a night sky filled with unknown stars, streaks of purple and blue mixing into the black - nebula clouds. Before her lay a forest with leaves of the same color along with yellows, oranges, reds and pinks. The colors were faded, but not too long ago they were vibrant. The grass was springy, like the bouncy material used in modern day parks.

A red tail flickered over a bush and a fox bounded towards her. Larger than most of his kind, he sported two unusual markings. One was the deep maroon streak that ran up the center of his face and down his back. The other was the large fleshy scar over one eye. His only eye peered seriously at the girl. He also wore a ragged brown collar, with the words Ally etched none too neatly on it.

"You're here for the girl aren't you?" It was pointless to ask that question. Those who wandered into his world were looking for their lost loved ones. "Tell me who are you?"