The Girl and the Monster

Once upon a time, not quite so long ago, there was a girl who was in love with the monster who lived in her closet. It was an odd relationship between the girl and the beast, but they understood one another. The monster had no name and hid all day, while the girl was free to dance, run, and play. The girl listened to her mother, always did her chores, and never forgot to say her prayers.

The girl’s name was Hannah, and she was very pretty for a little girl, with curls of auburn and sparkling blue eyes, which her grandmother claimed were pieces of the sky. She didn’t always know there was a monster in her closet, but her father made sure she was always aware of the possibility. He used to tell her to beware of monsters who only came out at night and liked to live in little girl’s closets. He was more afraid than she, and each night before he tucked her in, he made the habit of shutting Hannah’s closet door – so no monsters could get in.

One monster got in.

He found Hannah one evening whilst going about his monsterly business. He couldn’t get over how perfect a child she was. She was frail and gullible and would likely be very easy to scare. So the monster made his home in Hannah’s closet and there he stayed for years.

Every night he would make an awful fit, banging on the closet door and demanding to be let out. He would scream and yell and scratch and rattle. Poor Hannah could never get a wink of sleep.

One night, Hannah decided to tell her mother.

“Mother, mother! I fear a monster has found his way to my closet. What should I do?”

The mother took Hannah into her arms and rocked her gently.

“Drink a glass of warm milk and think of happy thoughts, my child. The monster will be sure to go away if you do this.”

Hannah followed her mother’s instructions. Though she felt very sleepy, she could not rest. The monster was still there. So, Hannah ran to tell her father.

“Father, father! A monster has found his way to my closet.”

Hannah’s father clenched his knuckles, for he knew of the dangers monsters invited. “Hannah, you must promise me to never open your closet past bedtime. Do you understand me?”

Hannah nodded. “Yes, Father. I promise.”

She ran back to her room and tiptoed to her closet door. She winced as the monster screamed particularly loudly.

“Why do you scream, Monster?” Hannah asked. “Are you hurt?”

The monster stopped screaming. He hadn’t expected the little girl to speak to him. “I scream to frighten you,” he said. “It is dark in the closet, and I have no way to know the happiness of the world, so instead I focus on your fear. This does not make me happy, but gives me enough pleasure to continue on for another day.”

“That’s not nice of you,” the girl said. “If it pleases you, oh Monster, please scream and scratch and rattle for the rest of the night and forever, but know that it does not frighten me.” With that, Hannah went to sleep.

The monster did not scream, or scratch, or claw anymore after that night. Aside from an occasional whimper, Hannah would have guessed he left. Weeks went by before she rapped tap tapped on the door of her closet.

“Oh, Monster, why do you cry?”

“I cry because I have nothing now. I don’t have happiness and I don’t have to pleasure of your fear. I cry in self shame.”

The girl did not pity the monster, but she found her hand on the knob of the closet. She slid the door open to find two yellow eyes gazing at her.

“I will show you the happiness of the world, Monster, if you will let me.”

The monster didn’t know what to say at first. He only knew cramped spaces and the smell of moth balls. “I will let you,” he said finally after much deliberation.

After that, each night, Hannah would show the monster something new. She would read him stories from her books, play games with him, and they would talk into the wee hours of the morning. It got to the point where Hannah became more excited to go to bed than she was to live her every day life.

“Girl,” the monster said one day. “You have taught me much about the happiness of the world. I would be honored if you allowed me to stay in your closet forever and ever.”

The girl jumped up and hugged the monster.

“Of course you can, Monster. That would make me a very happy girl.”

Hannah loved the monster very much, and the monster loved Hannah.

Alas, during the day, the monster would cry. He was not happy with the moth balls and Hannah’s toys scattered at his feet. He was cramped, and while he enjoyed his time with the girl and loved her very much, he still thought that monsters weren’t meant to know the happiness of the world.

One night, Hannah’s father heard the giggling and joy of his daughter while walking down the hall. It was past midnight, and surely Hannah should have fallen asleep hours ago. He creaked open her door only to find his daughter playing Chinese checkers with a monster!

He pulled Hannah away as fast as he could.

“I told you not to open the closet!” he yelled.

“Father, I love the monster. He doesn’t hurt me. You don’t understand!”

The father placed his daughter down firmly in the den and made up the sofa bed.

“You will sleep here tonight,” he told Hannah.

Hannah obeyed, but her heart sank with each beat it took.

“He loves me,” she told her father. “He is a good monster. Go ask him. You’ll see.”

The father marched back to Hannah’s room to find the monster had torn the bedroom to shreds. There were broken toys everywhere, and he had torn the all wallpaper.

“Is it true you love my Hannah?” the father roared in a voice that rivaled the monster’s.

The monster did not answer.

“I’ll ask again, do you love her?”

“No,” the monster said. “I do not love your Hannah. I am a monster and can only love the night and the fear it brings to little children.”

“That is what I thought,” said the father and slammed the door.

That night, the monster left.

When Hannah was finally allowed to sleep in her room again, she rapped tap tapped on the closet door.

“Monster, let’s play a game.”

There was no answer.

“Monster, let’s read a story.”

Still no answer.

“Monster, I’ve missed you.”

Nothing.

“Monster, I love you,” she wept.

And the little girl never saw or heard from the monster she loved ever again.