The Monsters Under Your Bed.
I read this short story at the Talking Tales writing group in Bristol. The theme was ‘Spooks’, and I was inspired by a conversation with my son, in which I tried to persuade him not to be afraid of monsters at bedtime.
Everyone tells you the monsters under your bed aren’t real. That’s not true. The monsters are there alright, but they’re more scared of you than you are of them. How do I know? They tell me. I’m their therapist, you see.
They come to me to help them deal with the anxiety that results from so many people running, screaming and crying when they see you. It’s hard when everyone is afraid of you all the time. And it’s not their fault. Sure, they look a bit different to what we’re used to. They can’t help that. But they have an aversion to light, an allergy really. It brings them out in itchy hives, very uncomfortable. Which is why they hide in dark corners: it’s where they’re happiest. They like the dark. Only, humans aren’t keen on strange shapes in dark corners. We’re just built that way, hence the running and screaming.
The monsters are just doing what comes naturally. They can’t help it that they have to share space with us. Wherever humans build dark corners, well, you’re going to get monsters there, sure as night follows day. But they don’t mean us any harm. If you leave them alone, they’ll leave you alone. Have you ever heard of a person actually being taken or eaten by a monster? No? Exactly. It’s a silly smear campaign, thought up by people who couldn’t be bothered to stop for a moment and think how they’d feel if it was them being feared and ostracised, who never took the time to understand them.
That’s why I see my work as not just helping monsters overcome their self-esteem issues, but educating the community too. It’s about shining a light in dark corners, so to speak — only not literally because, as we’ve established, that would be pretty unpleasant for any monsters lurking there. So we work through their issues and I help them understand that humans screaming and crying isn’t personal, per se. But really, we’d all be happier if we just learned to understand each other a bit better. Sure, we might all look different — some of us might have three eyes, two heads and long, purple tentacles, and others might be monsters — sound different, and enjoy different things, but if we all just make a little space for each other, we might find we have more in common than not. Now, turn off your light and go to sleep. Goodnight.