Lilly opens her bedroom door. Hallway light slants across the grey carpet, illuminating the corner of her Barbie blanket against the bedpost. Beside it is a narrow strip of darkness, where the monster has been watching for the past three nights. Waiting to feed.
Stomach churning, Lilly ambles to the edge of the bed. She pauses there, heart hammering, straining, listening.
Its voice is slow, warbled, and deep as an underground cavern. "Heeeee hee heeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Lilly chokes back a scream, all but certain that an undead killer is waiting to stab her through the mattress once she lies down.
Wonder Woman wouldn't be afraid. She's brave like Mommy.
Quickly, Lilly runs to her dresser and pulls out a flashlight. Its bulb floods the dark room with bright light. Cautiously, she crouches by the bedroom door and focuses the beam into the narrow void.
"Heeeee hee heeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Her breath catches, but Wonder Woman wouldn't look away, so she won't either. The beam shows her a few scattered pennies, a couple of old dolls covered in dust, and a dirty towel partially covering something red and furry.
"Heeeee hee heeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Lilly's body shakes so bad she almost drops the flashlight. Hesitantly, she crawls closer to the bed. She reaches with trembling fingers, grasping the edge of the towel. It slides off easily at her tug, and the thing it was concealing rolls toward her. She squeaks . . . then sags in relief.
"Elmo!" Lilly admonishes. "Your batteries are dying!"
"Heeeee hee heeeeeeeeeeeee!"
A/N: Thanks for reading. This story was entered into Writing Battle's Summer Nano, and I was happy with how well it did. If you enjoyed it, please consider subscribing here and to my Substack.
About the Creator
Kenny Penn
Thanks for reading! I enjoy writing in various genres, my favorites being horror/thriller and dark/epic fantasies. I'll also occasionally drop a poem or two.
More at: www.kennypenn.com
My Top Stories: https://www.kennypenn.com/vocalmedia/
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Comments (9)
Great job building tension that tuned out to be psycho Elmo… Hahahaha. The writing battle is a tough competition. I’ll make it into the top 32 one of these times… congrats, Kenny!
I definitely wasn't expecting the "monster" to be Elmo. How cute! Congrats on doing so well in the Writing Battle!
That was an adorable ending! And I love how she kept asking what Wonder Woman would do. It characterizes her very well. Nicely done.
Hahahahahahahahhaa I so wasn't expecting that! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Loved your story!
Love how you used the short form here, Kenny! A great read; I am not surprised it got that far. I know how hard the Writing Battle can be, so many congratulations, my friend!!
Cute stuff! Very nicely done!
Oh, how those battery-operated kids' toys can give you a fright when you least expect it! The Furby's talking to each other when the lights were off, at 2 am, really freaked me out.
Cute ending with Elmo. Big congrats making it to 32 in WB with so many entries! I entered to and didn’t make it nearly that far😅
Sir, well done on your placement and well done on a extremely tight and just fabulous micro. It was delightful. Which, is funny, not in a bad way, but I'm used to the darker side of the Penn of Penn. (See what I did there?) But, this was just brilliant and shows versatility of your abilities as a storyteller and to fit all that into a micro . Awesome work, really loved it!