• “ This story really happened.

    “Once there was this kid name Bradley. When he was a baby he cried for everything. He cried when he was hungry. He cried when he was wet. He cried when he was bored. Like all babies he cried for everything and was the center of attention because of it.

    “When he got older his parents tried to teach him to care about others. They tried taking him to play dates and telling him to share. Instead he stole their toys and drank their juice.

    “Then they got him a puppy to take care of. He seemed to love the puppy very much. One day the puppy got dirty so Bradley put the puppy in the toilet to give him a bath and then flushed it to rinse him off. The puppy went down the drain and then choked to death on doo-doo. When his parents told Bradley that the puppy was dead he just shrugged and said that they could just get another one, like he just didn’t care!

    “Then Bradley’s parents got him something easier to take care of, a cat. The cat knew that Bradley was bad so she scratched him. His parents coaxed him and the cat until they became friends, but one day Bradley got into his dad’s power tools and played doctor with the cat. The cat survived but his head is open so his brains are always showing and the cat is stupid now.

    “Bradley’s dad spanked him for hurting the cat, to teach him to care about others. Later that night while his dad was sleeping Bradley beat him with a baseball bat.

    “His parents know now that Bradley was evil, so they decided to send him away to the crazy house. Bradley heard their plan and decided to run away from home and live in the woods.

    “In the woods Bradley found a cave for shelter. He rested there and fell asleep. When he woke up he was laying on a table in the Boogeyman’s Kitchen!

    “’Hello there boy.’ The Boogeyman said. ‘When the sauce is nice and salty I will gobble you up!’

    “Even though the Boogeyman’s face was huge and lumpy and even though he had extra stinky slime dripping from his skin and yellow sharp teeth, Bradley wasn’t afraid. He asked the Boogeyman, ‘What makes it salty?'

    “The Boogeyman laughed before coughing on his own slime. ‘Oh! Your tears my young lad!’

    “But in the whole night he could not make Bradley cry. The Boogeyman tried scaring him, but he wouldn’t shriek. He tried pinching him but Bradley pinched back. He threatened to kill his father and eat his mother but Bradley didn’t care.

    “The Boogeyman started to really worry when Bradley asked ‘If I make you cry then do I gobble you up instead?’

    “The Boogeyman laughed, ‘Ha, ha! Little boy, I am the King of all Boogeys, the most terrible creature that ever lived! Asking me to cry is like asking a rock to cry. I feed on fear and I strike terror in all who encounter me!’

    “’If that’s true,’ Bradley said ‘Then why haven’t you made me cry? I’m just a little boy.’

    “Hearing this, the Boogeyman became furious. He stamped and yelled and glowered until his voice became horse and his feet got sore, but no matter what he did he could not scare or upset Bradley. Exhausted he could only think of one more thing to do. ‘If I break your arm little boy…’ he said with a sly grin. ‘…you’ll cry for sure!’

    “The Boogeyman grabbed Bradley’s arm in his hands like it was a twig and quickly bent it in the wrong direction. Even the Boogeyman cringed at the sickening snap, but Bradley didn’t even blink.

    “Scowling he screamed, ‘Hey! That HURT!’ and then stamped on the Boogeyman’s foot.

    “The Boogeyman howled in pain and hopped on one foot. Then he fell on the floor throwing an awesome tantrum and cried.

    “Seeing the Boogeyman’s tears Bradley pointed at him and yelled ‘Ha! You cried! Now the sauce will make you delicious!’

    “The Boogeyman begged and pleaded for Bradley to not gobble him up but he could not change the rules of the Boogeys.

    “With the Boogeyman in his tummy Bradley became the new king of the Boogeys. His evil became so great that all of his hair fell out and green ooze pours from his skin each time he has an evil thought. Now when the night is darkest he comes out crawling into windows and from underneath beds reaching to snatch young children and steal them away to Boogeyland.

    “The bad kids he takes are lucky. He only turns them into Boogeys so that they can never see their family again. The rest are locked in cages and he has them pinched and teased so that he can use their tears to wash down the boys and girls he gobbles up.

    “That’s why he only likes to snatch scared and sad kids, so if you watch a movie that’s too scare you should keep an eye on your window, because he might be out to get’cha!”

    “AAAhh!” Tricky shrieked. His shout of terror ended abruptly, and he clutched the pillow he was hugging tighter. Normally in his own home he felt less vulnerable, but Paula summoned an eerie atmosphere, making the cheery purple painted room feel dank and ominous. Suddenly Tricky was very conscious of how neat, wide and open the room was. It left nowhere to hide from danger. His eyes nervously eyed the closed door, wishing he were brave enough to leave the comfort of his bed and the light of the single lamp in his room to open it again, so that more than just the lamp and the window could protect him with it’s light.

    Susan was the one to break the silence. “Now Look what you’ve done! You’ve scared poor Patrick” Susan scooted closer to Tricky on the bed to hover over him like a mother bird. She always sat on the bed to look dignified, modest and to keep her clothes clean, so she was the closest to Tricky who stayed on his bed for comfort and familiarity. “Besides did that story have to be so gross?” She said glaring at Paula, more out of defiance than the concern for Tricky.

    Paula noticed, and was not willing to be dominated in this argument. “Oh, Tricky’s okay. He’s just being a baby. He likes scary stories, don’t you Trick?”

    “That story is gross and offensive especially the part about that poor kitty”

    “That’s the point. You can’t have a scary story about rainbows and baby dolls.”

    Tricky finally untangled himself from Susan’s protective embrace and spoke up. “I don’t mind, honest. Its just that I was thinking about it being real.”

    While Susan unhanded the little traitor she tried to protect, her brother piped up from his position on the floor. “That story can’t be real. How can a little boy gobble up a monster? Does he have a giant mouth?” he said and afterwards demonstrated by baring his teeth and stretching his mouth open as if he were trying to open a peanut butter jar with his face.

    Susan and William, as brother and sister, shared the same strawberry blond hair and button noses that always made them the center of attention at family reunions but their personalities were complete opposites. While Susan sat upright and proper on her clean perch upon the bed her younger brother lay on the carpet enjoying his proximity to the dirt and the dust bunnies.

    Susan rolled her eyes and averted her attention away from the horrible conversation while secretly listening in.

    “It’s totally true. Everyone in school knows it.” Paula answered William.

    “Then how come I’ve never heard about it?

    “Because you’re a 4th grader,” Paula closed her eyes and mimicked Susan’s regal tone rather than her usual boyish demeanor. “Us 6th graders have a higher awareness of the world”

    Susan snorted recognizing the impersonation of her, but still keeping her vigil of the wall on the other side of the room.

    Suddenly Paula became aware of the only person who hadn’t said a single word the whole night, Dimitri. Like Paula and William he sat on the floor. His attention was solely on a large thin book draped over his crossed legs.

    “Hey Daydream Boy, did you even hear the story?” She said waving her hand over his book.

    Dimitri, shocked from his reverie, fell backwards, betrayed by his sleeping legs. Even though Tricky, Susan, Dimitri, and Paula were around the same age the girls had outgrown the boys by far. As a result Dimitri’s parents bought him clothes that he had to grow into. These baggy clothes didn’t help keep him from becoming entangled with himself and becoming a mass of clothes, boy and prickling limbs.

    Even Tricky gave a shy chuckle as Dimitri tried to regain his composure.

    When he was finally upright and alert Paula asked him if he was okay.

    “I’m okay,” Dimitri answered, “I was just reading this book about monsters!”

    Paula’s face brightened from hearing hope that there was a believer of her telling of the school’s urban myth. “So you heard about the King Boogey story?”

    “No, not really, but last week I saw a Boogey under my bed. It tried to get me.”

    The remnant’s of Tricky and Paula’s laughter died taking with it the laughter of Susan and William’s. For the siblings the situation became vivid and tense. Tricky and Paula were not angry but both gave off the feeling that Dimitri had crossed a line, especially Tricky. Tricky’s eyes were pointed towards Dimitri, but seemed to be focused on nothing. For a full minute his breath stopped as if the room had suddenly become unsafe and he was afraid of making a noise.

    “What do you mean a Boogey tried to get you?” Paula said. Her voice was suddenly quiet and serious.

    Out of politeness and curiosity William and Susan sat quietly and glanced between Paula and Dimitri. Dimitri was too hesitant to answer, and Paula was much too somber. This conversation was growing more meaning than what was on the surface.

    Dimitri calmly answered. “Last week while I was lying in bed a scratching noise woke me up. I laid there pretending to be asleep and then a huge hand reached out from under the bed. It just hovered over me before it tried to grab me.”

    “That didn’t happen.” William interrupted “You’re lying”

    “Yes it did. Dimitri wouldn’t lie about something like that.” Paula said, obviously becoming angry. William sensed the anger and wasn’t ready for how passionate she was at defending an obvious lie. He responded with the first thing to come to his mind.

    “How do you know he wouldn’t? You don’t even know him like you know us.”

    It was true. While Paula, Tricky, Susan and William all grew up within two blocks of each other, Dimitri had moved into town earlier that year. He had made a few friends at school fairly quickly, but would not have met Paula if their parents were not friends, and was at Tricky’s house listening to scary stories because his parents were either friend’s or co-workers with the other’s parents, and they were all having an adult dinner and talking about things that adults talk about.

    “I still know he’s telling the truth.”

    “How? There’s not even a such thing as Boogeys. You’re just saying that because you like him”

    Paula ignored William’s last claim and presented a more shocking one. “I know because that happens to me.”

    “Alright I’ve had enough of this nonsense.” Susan interrupted sensing the tension in the air and needing to diffuse the situation. “I know you like scary stories but this is going too far.”

    “But it’s true. A hand tried to grab me. It was almost as big as my body.” Dimitri said.

    “It was just your imagination or a dream.”

    “What about me? I saw it too.” Paula said.

    “It was just your imagination too.”

    “What about Tricky? He saw it too.”

    William was content with losing responsibility for his side of the argument and watching his sister deal with it. When Tricky was named as the third testimony to the wild claims of monster sightings he glanced at his direction. Tricky was still huddled against the headboard of his bed hugging his pillow and peeking out from under his dark bangs. He didn’t need to say anything to confirm what Paula was saying, but Susan asked anyway. “Did you really see something Patrick?”

    “Yes.” He whispered softly. “It keeps coming in my room sniffing the floor like it can’t find me.”

    William stared on as reality shifted. He knew he could trust Tricky. Tricky was smart. He always told him the truth when his family tried to lie to him. That’s how he found out that the Tooth Fairy wasn’t real, that babies didn’t come from the factory under the hospital and that the doctor was really trying to suck his blood. This meant that the Boogeys were real.

    Susan still refused to lose control of the conversation. “You just imagined it, that’s all.” She said in a much more comforting tone than what she used for the others.

    “We can’t have all imagined the same thing.” Paula said

    “Well you did!” Susan was starting to get frantic and louder. “Daddy SAID SO! He said its just your imagination making you see things!”

    As everyone else went silent again Susan thought that her outburst had won her the argument, but then noticed that everyone was looking at her.

    “You saw one didn’t you?” Tricky said placing a hand on Susan’s shoulder.

    “No.” Susan whispered in response. “It was just my imagination…”

    “But you did see something right?”

    Susan broke into a quit sob and mumbled a watery “Yes.”. She had quickly forgotten because they were only a dream, but with that fact in jeopardy the memories and the terror of that night came back to her. Tricky held her as she cried, although due to his size she appeared to be cradling him instead.

    Paula and Dimitri reached out to touch Susan’s shoulders to comfort her. William looked on in concern, but was not willing to do any sissy hugging to make her stop crying.

    Susan soon finished sobbing and brought out a kerchief to dry her eyes. When she was finally decent Dimitri spoke up again.
    “I think we should talk about what we saw.” He whispered. “If what we saw is the same thing in my book, then it says a way to make them stop coming”

    Susan and Tricky’s eyes brightened in hope. “Can you really make them stop?” Susan said.

    “Yes, but there’s something wrong.”

    “What’s wrong?” Susan asked.

    “It says that Boogeys don’t try to steal more than a few kids before they move to another place.”

    “So?”

    “That means that it’s weird that they came after all of us. I think they want something.”

    Suddenly, there was a thud against the bedroom door. The children’s hearts stopped and sank as the doorknob began turn.