Monsters

"Where are your parents, little one?" the ebony skinned elf asked. 

Jenetia's lower lip trembled as she looked up at her. There was something frightening about the elf, but also something comforting. She reminded her of her own mother. Moving a little closer, the young elf tucked a few stray strands of blonde hair behind her ear and bit her lip. "The dr-dr-dragons took them. Took everyone: mama, daddy, my brother..." She bit her lip harder, drawing blood, and cast her gaze down to the floor.

The dark elf reached down and scooped Jenetia up into a hug, holding her tight as she wept. Awkwardly, the dark elf patted the child's back and made soothing noises that she'd heard other mothers make. Not her own mother of course, dark elf children are never comforted as a rule. 

"You can stay here with me, child. But you must be brave and strong and someday maybe we'll find that nasty dragon and slay it." The promise was empty, but Jenetia was just a child, she wouldn't pick up on that. Oh dear, what will Jace think? I can hear him now "another stray, Elizarath?" Nothing to it but to follow through now. 

And so Jenetia found herself whisked away to Elizarath's apartments. Within days she was calling the dark elf "mama". Elizarath was often gone, but the apartments boasted of a magical security system which kept her safe. 

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A few months after Elizarath took her in, Jenetia woke in the middle of the night to a strange noise, coming inexplicably from under her bed. She frowned. Months under the care of her new mother had taught her to be tough and even fearless, though dreams of the dragons who killed her family still haunted her.

"Who's under my bed?" she asked, fearlessly.

The noises ceased. Then a soft moaning began, this time coming from across the room, closer to the closet. "I am the Monster Under your Bed. I am the Terror of the Night. I am your worst nightmares come to pass. Fear me, Child!"

Jenetia frowned, still unafraid. In fact, she found she wanted to start giggling. She thought maybe her adoptive father had returned in the night and was trying to scare her. She clapped once, sharply, and the room lit up with a bright white light. 

A shriek came from the creature she found standing across the room and she tilted her head to one side, chewing on her lip as she studied the cowering creature. "Please! Turn the light off! You're not supposed to see me!"

"What are you?"

"I told you already. But please, turn off that infernal light!"

"No," she replied, firmly. "Tell me what you are and why you're here. How did you get in? The magic keeps out bad guys. So how did you get in?"

"I am a Monster Under the Bed. I am here to protect you from evil while you sleep. You're never supposed to see me. I've never had this happen before. I'm so embarrassed." The creature kept his eyes tightly closed and his hands over them, but straightened a little. He was extremely tall and very, very thin. 

Jenetia didn't know what 'embarrassed' meant, so she ignored that part of his speech. "What's your name?"

"You couldn't possibly pronounce it."

"OK. Well, I'll call you Norbert, then." 

Forgetting the brightness of the light, the Monster took his hands off of his face and blinked. "Norbert?"

"Yes. You must be OK or the magic would have kept you out. If you're here to protect me, then you can play with me, too. And I have to call you something. Norbert is a good name." She grinned. 

He blinked again, his red eyes finally adjusting to the bright light. "This is highly unorthodox."

"I don't know what that is, but you can be my friend! I get lonely when Mama and Daddy are gone."

"The other Monsters are going to..."

"There are more of you?! You have to tell me all about them! I want to know everything!!!"

Resigned, "Norbert" sat down on the floor. "One question at a time, please." He rubbed his head as though it hurt.

So Jenetia gained a friend, a protector and a companion that night as she gently plied him with questions about just what the Monsters Under the Bed were.