Boogeyman
The boogeyman got up early this dusk. He couldn’t help it. He loved his job. He lay in bed excited, pondering on what tricks he would play, what disguises to wear and what wicked dreams to spin into his children’s heads that night. He had grown attached to these. Jim and Sally. They were twins and they had bunk beds which made it easy for him to share his nightmares with them. He had to be careful because if he pushed the dream too far, one would wake up and seek comfort from the other. His fun was ruined and what could have been a wonderful three-course meal would sadly turn into an appetizer.
It was time. He slipped on his pumpkin mask and trotted though the woods and into the shadows of the streets. He was a scrawny boogeyman; his peers always pinched, pulled and laughed at his short, twig-like frame. He was starting to put on some weight though, he was getting much better at this. He faded into the dark and gushed though the darkness like water gushing down a gutter. He slid up the side of the Jenkins’, and through a crack in the window of the kids’ room. It surprised him that there was no bunk bed. The boogeyman pulled his mask up and found only Jim sleeping. The bunk bed had been taken apart. His little green heart pounded in his chest and despair set in. He searched the house and found in what used to be Mr. Jenkin’s office, converted to a bedroom for the girl. Sighing with relief he pulled his pumpkin mask down and looking into Sally’s mind.
She was older now and was wearing an apron and making some sack lunches. Her children ran to her and grabbed the brown paper bags kissed her on the cheek and left for school. The boogeyman attempted to conjure floating eyeballs in the dishwater but they turned out only as bubbles. He reached into her heart and tried to stir fear but could find none. He even appeared in the flesh (which is a boogeyman’s last resort) but she looked past him, reaching for the telephone to call a friend.
“It’s too late now,” a smooth voice interrupted his frustration. “They’ve gone and grown up on you little boogeyman, time to find some new prey.”
He dropped back into the room and saw a smirking demon standing in the corner.
“What do you mean?” the creature asked.
The demon sneered. “They don’t believe in anything anymore.”
The boogeyman frowned. He was always told that your first are always the hardest to leave and this was an unhappy reality.
“I’ll take it from here.”
The boogeyman left the Jenkins’ house for the last time and started on his long and cold journey. It was most likely that he was going to be going home hungry that night. It may be a long time until he would eat again.