The eyes in the closet

Valentino opened his eyes, restless, and looked towards the closet. The door was slightly ajar. His heart raced, fear coursing through his entire body. He couldn't move.

Eyes glowed in the darkness, the gaze of a wild animal.

He wanted to scream, to cry for help, but the plea got stuck in his throat. Goosebumps prickled his skin, and sweat beaded on his forehead. Something churned in his stomach. The eyes, a sickly yellow, remained fixed on him. He had a premonition; it wasn't just watching him; it was sniffing him.

Valentino reeked of fear. How could he avoid it? He had discovered an animal lurking in his closet.

"It's not an animal, it's worse than that," he thought. "It's a monster."

Another shiver ran down his spine, compounding his unease; in the room's silence, he heard a growl. But not like a dog's; it sounded like his own stomach when he was very hungry. The monster was hungry, and everyone knows that monsters' favorite food is children...

The room was in semi-darkness. Instinct advised him to wait for daylight. The light would pierce through the window and protect him. He swallowed hard, his throat as rough as sandpaper. The creak of the hinges sent another shiver through him; the closet door opened a bit wider.

"I can't wait," he thought. "It's hungry, and if I don't escape, it will eat me."

He forced himself to look away. The eyes turned in their sockets, meeting the bedroom door. On the other side was the hallway, and next to it was his mother's bedroom. Monsters don't reveal themselves to adults. "What if it's not afraid of my mom?" a voice emerged from the depths of his mind, "It won't just eat you, it will eat her too."

He kicked that thought away. His father had always protected him; there was no reason his mother couldn't do the same. For a brief moment, doubt began to creep in, but fear pushed it down. He looked at the closet again; the sickly yellow eyes continued to lurk.

He noticed something different; the creature's furry coat.

Was that the glint of a tooth? Yes, sharp, pointed teeth like needles. The darkness didn't reveal more details, but his brain filled in the gaps with images of what must be happening; memories of animals on television; lions hiding in the vegetation, ready to pounce on their prey.

He scrutinized the bedroom door. The distance he had to cover was the same as the monster's journey to the bed. Who would win the race?

"I'm fast; my uncle always said I had a rocket in my butt," he told himself to boost his courage.

His pajamas clung to his skin. The distance to the hallway was a winding path; even though he couldn't see them, he knew there were several toys scattered on the floor. For the first time in his childhood, Valentino regretted being so messy. The monster's heavy breathing didn't allow him to think. He had played an accident on the highway; that meant a fire truck, a police car, and a couple more toy vehicles. The sickly eyes were like two headlights.

It had moved closer again. It was now or never.

Valentino slid off the bed, the few inches left for his feet to touch the floor. His sockless feet felt icy. He didn't dare breathe. At such a close range, the monster seemed huge; it would devour him in one bite. His stomach burned as if he had swallowed a sewing kit. He couldn't remember which toy might be blocking his path.

He didn't have time.

The eyes stared at him from a lower position.

Images of lionesses hunting returned to Valentino's mind. He was about to freeze, as in a dream; one in which you try to run but stay in one place. According to Newton's third law, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. In Valentino's case, that's what freed him from the ground.

The monster lunged, and he started running.

His body flooded with adrenaline, mingling with the fear pounding in his heart. He heard the monster's panting, but he didn't have time to worry. He leaped over what he guessed were the toys. Suspended in mid-air, he remembered the others; when you play highway accidents, you need victims.

"The little lead soldiers..."

When he landed, one of the soldiers' bayonets struck him in the back. Valentino groaned, but he didn't stop running. There was no pain that would make him stop; he felt his breath on his neck.

Aside from the pain, he also felt a relaxing happiness. Toy cars were scattered in all directions, the monster had collided with them. The door was within reach.

A step away from the hallway, an intense and searing pain shot through Valentino's back. He groaned again, arched his back, and his eyes filled with tears. He turned into the hallway without slowing down, bumping into the wall, using the momentum to continue. He couldn't hear, smell, or feel anything; he was only focused on the bedroom door...

"Mom!"

Gabriela woke with a start. Before she could understand what was happening, her son was already on the bed and leaping into her arms. He wouldn't stop crying.

"What's wrong, my love?" she asked in a soft, sleepy voice.

As soon as Gabriela heard the word "monster" come from her son's mouth, any other worries she might have had disappeared. Valentino had just had a nightmare; something that happened very often after his father's death.

Gabriela hugged her son, kissed his forehead, and rocked him to calm him down.

"What's going on, my dear," she comforted him. "Monsters don't exist." She ran a hand over his back.

Then she felt something wet and sticky on her palm, but she didn't have time to check what it was. Gabriela remained completely paralyzed as a chill ran down her spine like an electric shock.

She had heard a growl coming from the hallway. And then, yellow eyes glowed in the darkness...