'Or, The First Monster Under the Bed'
The very first monster-under-the-bed was a little fellow named Yedoro, who came about in a very peculiar way. A very, very long time ago, even longer than Grandpa can remember, in a country where magic was still a part of everyday life, there lived a little girl named Yael. The land of Mystigold was a green realm of blue skies and happy folk. The King and his court dealt with great magics and wonders. But other folk just lived very happy and quiet lives. They still had to face the routine work and duties of everyday life.
The children of Mystigold were very happy, too. But even they had chores, so they could learn the ways to become grown up. And Yael loved most of her chores, such as helping Mother barter for vegetables and fixing the meals. But, poor Yael hated having to clean her own room. Especially under the bed.
One night, after a bad fight with her mother about the room, poor Yael found herself restricted to the mess she had made. For a long time Yael sat on her bed just staring at the great piles of clothes and toys, and dirt, that had collected in her little world. She sorely wished there was some way to do this without all the necessary work.
Then Yael remembered that there was real magic in the world. So, she would make a special magical wish that would clean up her room for her. But she was on restriction, so she had to sneak out and find the information she needed. After reading some of the books in her father's library, Yael was ready to cast her first spell.
Yael returned to her devastated bedroom, and prepared everything for her magical wish. Then she spoke the words that would save her:
All my clothes collect yourselves, and
Go hide in the closet, and close the door.
All my toys get back in your place,
Stay where you belong, and play no more.
All the dust get under my bed,
Collect yourselves, and hands off the floor.
Do it in the dark, where no one can see,
This is my wish forever more.
Yael cast her spell and turned out the lights. In the darkness she couldn't see anything happen, but Yael could feel the difference and hear as things would slide around the floor. She would occasionally see shadows move, and heard the closet door close. When everything settled down, she lit the candle and marvelled at the beautiful room. Even her mother was surprised that the room was so clean.
It was really great. Every night the room cleaned itself, and everyday Yael took the credit. It was her magic after all that was cleaning the room. But Yael was only 8 years-old, and she didn't know that her wish would get out of hand, so to speak. Even wishes can turn out wrong, if you really don't know what you're wishing for.
Because Yael made her magic to work everyday, without any supervision, it began to grow and develop a life of it's own. With each new night the magic that she had begun grew and changed. At first it was simple, the room got clean and nothing more. Then it got faster each time, until two years later, strange things started to happen. But Yael didn't realize that all these weird things were because of her magic.
The strange happenings were peculiar because they always occurred at night, in or near Yael's room. And she always got blamed because no one else was around. Yael was very upset because she was being blamed for everything, and she was doing nothing. And it came to her that everything she was being blamed for seemed to happen when she was asleep. But she could not prove that, and Mother and Father weren't going to believe it. It wasn't until the following winter that Yael found out what was going on.
When all the strange things started it was summer in Mystigold, and darkness arrived at the same time that Yael had to go to bed. But, by winter the darkness began to arrive at dinnertime. And that meant that Yael had to light the candles earlier and earlier, everyday. It was such an evening when Yael went into her room after the shadows fell, and before Mother had lit the candle. As little Yael opened the door something slid under the bed, and the closet door slammed shut. She only got a quick glimpse at the thing that went under the bed, and thought that there was an animal in the house. Without looking any closer, Yael shut the door and ran to tell her father that she had caught something in her bedroom.
After being told what Yael had seen, Father got a blanket and an ax handle. He intended to corner it, whatever it was, and just throw the blanket over it. Then he would wrap it up and carry it outside. Neither Yael or Mother wanted the little animal killed. Yael carried a candle and opened the door for Father. She saw the movement, again, but Father did not. She lit the candle on her dresser and they began to search the room. But nothing was there. Just a lot of dirt.
Because it was the first time Yael had seen something, all had to believe that it was a small animal, like a mouse. And that it had run out of the house when no one saw. Or that, maybe, Yael was only mistaken about seeing anything. But she kept seeing the same thing, and she kept telling Mother and Father that something was in her room. But they could never find anything, and Yael started getting in trouble for telling stories.
From then on lots of things started happening. There were noises in the closet, shadows on the wall, and movements under the bed. Then came the time when something tried to catch her feet. Every time she put the candle out and tried to get into bed, something would reach out from under the bed and tried to grab Yael's ankles. Then Yael started asking Mother to hep her get ready for bed, and put out the light. Yael believed that she could hear someone whimpering in the dark, after Mother had left the room. And she was real sure it came from under the bed.
By the next summer Yael had become determined to find out what was going on in her bedroom. And to prove that she wasn't just telling stories. Yet, another problem had developed by this time. Her clean room magic had begun to fade. That is to say, recently her room was only a little bit cleaner than the day before. And Mother had started to notice that Yael wasn't as diligent and careful about her chores. But Yael wanted to solve the first mystery, before she started worrying about a new wish.
Finally, Yael decided she needed help to catch the things hiding in her bedroom. But, since her parents wouldn't believe her, the little girl needed to find someome who would. She went to see her grandfather. Old Myca was the only one who never teased the little girl about her stories. However, Old Myca was a grown up, maybe he wouldn't help.
Yael went over to her grandfather's farm with supplies Mother sent. She told him her whole story, as far as she knew it. And Old Myca did listen. She started with the first night she saw it, and all the trouble it had caused, and continued until she came to the point where she came to him for help.
"So, what is it you haven't told me?" asked her grandfather after Yael had finished her tale.
"What do you mean? I've told the truth!" Yael exclaimed.
"Oh, I've not said you lied, Child. Only that there's something you have not included in your story." Myca responded, and sat patiently waiting as she thought about everything she'd told him.
"Grandfather," Yael began after a solemn pause, "I don't know anything else to tell. I have left nothing out since this started."
"That is my point." Myca replied. "What happened before all this? What did you do before it began?"
"I still don't understand." She answered, very confused.
"Have you been playing with magic?" Grandfather inquired.
"No! I haven't used any magic in years." Yael cried, defensively. "And that was just to get my room to clean itself, so I wouldn't have to do it." She continued, calmer and self-assured. "Besides, it's already worn off, and I have to clean my room myself."
"And what kind of spell did you cast?" Her grandfather asked.
Yael explained everything about the spell and the reaction. And added that she was positive that couldn't be the problem since it had disappeared, and the problem was still there.
"Child, how well are you cleaning your room?" Old Myca challenged the little girl. And he gave her that special look that said, I will know if you do not tell the truth.
"Well, good enough that Mother doesn't get mad at me." Yael said.
"Then I recommend you go home. And clean it much better." Her grandfather instructed.
"Why?" cried Yael, jumping up out of her chair. "What does that have to do with those things? If I don't catch them, they may bite me while I'm trying to clean my room!" Yael thought that was a very good argument. She didn't want to have anything jump up and attack her.
"Because," began Old Myca, "your own special magic, the wish, has changed itself, and is doing all those little things to you. Just as you told it to do." He paused as Yael sat back down in the chair, with a thump. "You see, Yael, the spell you made was forever. So it will never stop. And as long as it has something to work with it will always be there. And the longer it stays, the stronger it becomes."
"Then how can I stop it?" cried the scared little girl. She really didn't think she understood her grandfather. Then, suddenly, "You mean, I have to clean my room real good, everyday?" That thought was more frightening than being bitten by the monster.
Very calmly Old Myca replied, "Yes. That's the only way to stop them from playing their little games on you."
"Them?" exclaimed Yael. "How many are there?"
"Well, I believe that by now there are probably several." Her grandfather said. "But only two that you have worry about. Your spell makes all your toys play by themselves, and there's little to fear from them. However, you have created two new creatures. The one whose made from all your clothes on the floor and now lives in the closet. And the one that lives under the bed, made from all the dirt and stuff you leave under there."
"Could they really hurt me?" asked Yael, really scared.
"Not if they are very small. But, if you let your room get dirty, like it used to be, they could grow very big." he answered. "And, remember, they are not dumb. They have never let anyone see them, but you. It is your bedroom that they play in. And they know that you can be scared."
"So, I have to keep my room very clean and neat, all the time." the little girl's voice said she was resigned to her eternal punishment. "Will they ever go away?"
"I'm very sorry, Child," Old Myca replied, "but they will always be there. Your wish created them forever. They will always be in your room, and no one will ever be able to see them but you."
"Okay, Grandfather." Yael agreed, as she rose, again, from the chair. "I will keep my room clean. And I promise never to play with magic, again." She hugged her grandfather and started toward the front door.
"Yael." spoke Old Myca, just before she reached the door. She stopped and turned to face him. "Be careful. A spell isn't the only kind of magic. A wish can be the strongest, and sometines the most dangerous magic of all. If you wish for something you want, hard enough, it can come true. But, if you don't understand what you are wishing for, that can hurt you more than help you."
"I think I understand, now." Yael answered. "It's not what you want that counts, but what did you actually ask for." Her grandfather did not say anything, he only nodded and smiled. And Yael knew, at that moment, that she was growing up.
Yael went home and immediately began cleaning up her room. First, she hung all her clothes, then picked up all the toys and put them in their own places. Finally, she began dusting and sweeping. She worked very hard and carefully. Yet, the whole while she thought about the little creatures that she had created. And what they might really be like.
The days went by, and Yael kept everything spotless. All the little problems stopped. All the shadows stopped. All the strange noises stopped. Old Myca had been right, her magic wish had been the cause of all her troubles. Now, all of that was over. But Yael still wasn't happy.
If her magic had really created the monsters, then in cleaning her room everyday, Yael had, in essence, killed all of them. She worried that she had never known the monsters, so she couldn't know if they had been bad, or just playful. Yael argued, with herself, that maybe the were just lonely, because she never wanted to play with them. But what could she do about it, now?
Yael worried about this more and more. Then one day she got a wonderful idea. She would let the monsters return. But this time she would control the situation, because she knew how to, now. Yael started leaving a small stack of clothes on the floor, and a little bit of dust under the bed. Eventually they started moving, again. This time, however, she knew, and she wasn't scared.
At night when the candles were put out, Yael would play with her very special friends. She named the clothes, Claudette, because they were girl's stuff. But the little monster under the bed she named Yedoro, just because he was all hands. Her magic had made Yedoro a creature of just six arms and hands, all set in a circle. He could balnace himself on any two, and use all the others to catch her with.
Their favorite game was for Yedoro to wait under the bed. Then Yael and Claudette would try to hop on the bed without Yedoro grabbing their ankles and feet. But he was really very fast and would usually win.
As time went by their magic got stronger and stronger, again. Claudette started getting mean and always wanted to hurt Yael, or get her into trouble. Finally, Yael had no choice, she had to hang up all the clothes so Claudette could never come back. Poor Yael cried all that day.
Yedoro started getting bigger and bigger, and stronger, too. But he never became mean. The surprising thing was that he didn't disappear during the day, now. As long as he stayed in the deepest shadows, under the bed, Yedoro wouldn't turn back into dust. Yael moved the bed so he could have move shadows. But she also started dusting and sweeping better everyday, so he could not grow anymore. Otherwise, Yedoro would have grown too big to hide under the bed.
They had a lot of very happy times together. Yael loved Yedoro, and he was her very special, secret friend. She told him everything she knew. All the stuff she learned in school, all the stuff her friends talked about and did, and all of her dreams. They thought it would never end. But, time is a peculiar farmer who grows many things in our field.
One day when Yael was about fifteen, she started thinking about all that it meant to really grow up. Everyone around her seemed to be changing. The girls were chasing boys, and the boys were chasing girls. And the grown ups were expecting more and more from all of them. She decided that she had to start working on growing up. Yael went home and talked to her mother. She told her all the things that she had been thinking.
"Darling, you are all grown up." Mother said confidently, after quietly listening to Yael's observations. "Just being able to see all those things and changes, and realizing what you have to do proves you are grown up."
"But, I don't feel all grown up." the girl replied, skeptically.
"Sweetheart, it's not a feeling of being all grown up, but a feeling of not being a little child, anymore." Mother observed.
That night when Yael went to see Yedoro, he wasn't there. All she found was a small pile of dust. Every night for a very long time, Yael looked for little Yedoro. But he never came back. She was very hurt and very lonely. But Yael was growing up, and many other things started to take her mind off the little monster-under-the-bed, and her long lost friend.
***
A few years later Yael was completely all grown up. She got married to a very wonderful man, and had some children of her own. One night her daughter, Morgan, told her that she had been seeing something in her room at night. The little girl hadn't said anything before, but she was scared.
"Sweetheart," Yael said to Morgan, "you haven't been cleaning your room, have you?"
"No ma'am." replied the little girl, puzzled what that had to do with things running around at night. "But it's not dirty enough for mice!" She exclaimed, thinking that Mother thought she had seen a mouse, or worse, a rat.
"Did you make a wish that your room should clean itself?" Yael, now Mother, asked.
"Yeah. But it didn't work." responded Morgan. "I still have to do it myself." she continued very dejectedly.
Then Yael told her own daughter all about Yedoro and her wish. Then Yael knew that her magic hadn't died or gone away, it only needed a child to believe in it. So, together they cleaned the room. And then they set aside a little pile of dust in a shoe box, under the bed. That night little Yedoro came home.
THE END?
Better Look Under the Bed.
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