Sammy the Bed Monster

by T Jondral

  Sammy

  the Bed Monster

  by

  T. Jondral

  Contents

  Sammy the Bed Monster – Summary

  Dedication

  Disclaimer

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Sammy

  The Bed Monster

  Sammy is just one of the monsters that live under children’s beds. His job is to organise all of a child’s thoughts while they are sleeping. In this adventure, he must delve inside the mind of Luke, a ten-year-old boy, who is anxious about starting a new school. Sammy faces a big problem when Luke’s ‘dream’ teacher turns out to be very evil.

  To my supportive family…Thank you for everything!

  Copyright © T. Jondral 2017. All rights reserved.

  Under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 no part of the publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted without the author’s permission.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and locations are a product of the writer’s imagination. Any resemblance to real life people or places are simply coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  The room is completely dark, except for a small night light near the bed. The door was creaking closed when a faint voice is heard,

  “Daddy?”

  “Yes, son?”

  “Have you checked under my bed, for the bed monster?”

  “Yes, just like every other night. But I’ll check again.

  See, no monster. Don’t worry. Bed monsters don’t exist.”

  “Thanks dad.”

  “Goodnight son.”

  Have you ever had that talk, late at night, with your parents? Your parents are really wise and all, but – don’t tell them I said this – they have been lying to you for years about the bed monster.

  I can say this because, I am a BED MONSTER! Sammy, the bed monster. Don’t worry, I’m not one of those scary, hideous monsters that you’ve heard in myths. I like to think that I actually look pretty good. Just so you know, I always do use conditioner on my fur. The blue with grey spots always shines.

  Most importantly, I am here to help you.

  Have you ever realised that when you sleep your thoughts are unjumbled? Has it ever happened to you that you couldn’t answer a homework question and when you woke up, the answer just popped in your mind? That is all the job of bed monsters. That’s right, my job is to go inside that maze that is your brain and to get it all organised.

  I’ve had quite a few adventures. The minds of children are dangerous places for monsters like me. I’ve had to face dragons, pirates, evil fairies and even school tests. I have plenty of stories if you have the time to listen.

  Chapter 2

  Tonight is all about a ten-year-old boy called Luke. It is his last day of holidays and he is going to start at a new school. His mind will be full of danger and traps. I’m just waiting for his mum to kiss him goodnight so that I can start cleaning all the worries from his mind.

  His parents walk out and I can hear Luke’s soft breathing. I think it is safe for me to come out. As I get up from underneath the bed, I feel relieved to stretch my legs and arms. I shake my fur to get rid of the dust. Staying hours under a bed isn’t the most comfortable of places- it’s always very squishy. Now that you know about me, could you please leave the space under your bed clean and spacey? Maybe even some chocolate chip cookies? I have to gather my strengths to accomplish my heroic adventures in your head!

  Anyway, I cannot waste any more time, I only have ten hours to calm Luke’s worries about school and clean up his brain. I take a deep breath; I know it will be a long night.

  His face is very angelic; it seems he hums sweet tunes every time he breathes. I hope this is how it’s going to be. The dream world is like a bedroom - it’s always easier to maintain a neat room clean rather than cleaning a messy room. But, like I mentioned before, tomorrow is his first day at a new school and this almost always, brings chaos to the mind. I sigh once again and reach out my whole furry hand, all four fingers, towards his forehead.

  As soon as the tip of my index finger touches his head, I see my finger dive right in. It’s as if jumping into a pool, but without any sound. My fingers disappear into his mind and ripples begin to form all around the room. My vision gets hazy and then everything begins to spin. It is a quick process, but can be dizzying to a beginner – not me, of course.

  Chapter 3

  As I slowly open my eyes, I find myself facing a big, brick wall. I take a step back and I can see it is one of the sides of a school. The wall is at least ten storeys high and I swear it wears a menacing grim. The air is chilli and the school seems to be getting bigger and bigger.

  I am holding a remote control, like always, so that I can control Luke’s brain and actions in the real world. Technology really has improved from the time I had to keep jumping from the nightmare into the brain and so forth. I used to have to do so much more exercise, no wonder I gained a few kilos.

  Children of around Luke’s age are arriving with their parents and every single person points and laughs at me. I bring my hand to my face and see that instead of my claws, I have five delicate fingers and only two feet. From the reflection on a puddle I see Luke’s face. I had become Luke in his dream. This sometimes happens in dreams. It isn’t always easy to walk around with two skinny legs; I don’t know how humans balance. However, it does make my job a whole lot easier to be in Luke’s body because I can control exactly what Luke does, and it is better because he cannot panic and create more mess in his dreams.

  Anyway, I have to get back to the situation at hand. I look down towards my legs and see that I’m not wearing any pants. Luke’s legs are bare and shivering against the cold breeze. No wonder everyone was pointing. This was not a problem though, things like this happen very often in children’s dreams. Using the remote control, I start kicking Luke’s legs in real life. The bed sheets have now all fallen to the side of the bed. As soon as I did that, green school shorts appear on his bony legs. Dreams of forgetting clothes are usually because it’s too hot. The new pants stopped all the pointing, but didn’t stop Luke from feeling anxious.

  The school is now ten times bigger than when I had arrived. I take in my surroundings. The tall, brick building is surrounded by a lush maze-like bush. It seems that each classroom is located somewhere inside the maze. I stare at the bush for a while knowing that soon I will have to head in those proximities.

  I take my time memorising each building. There are four different buildings, all one-storey high. The only taller building stands at the front of the maze. It is a monstrous creation guarding the maze.

  Looking around I see on the far right there is a dark green structure, camouflaged by the leaves. There are a few steps leading towards the door, and square windows along the side of the building. There are plants growing wildly all around it.

  Close to it, through an archway, is a faint yellow building. From afar I can already see the walls peeling and it seems centuries old. A little breeze would shatter the windows.

  The third building is a bit more modern and looks, surprisingly, quite inviting. It has large windows that let all the sunshine in. The door was also glass but it had a painting of a tree with books hanging from it.

  The fourth building is very small and seemed to be nearly underground. I can even see the top of it; the roof looks like a gigantic brown mushroo
m. Its tiny door hidden by plants that grew alongside the walls of the building would probably lead directly to a staircase and the classroom would be underground. What subject would be studied in this depressing room? Some sort of evil science lesson?

  And of course, the last building is the monstrous creature that I had mentioned before. It stands right in front of the whole maze, just behind a sign that reads, "Welcome to, Limpton Public School. Where we educate the whole child." Yes, this school definitely educates the whole child - on how to get into small doors and navigate mazes.

  Chapter 4

  Even though I was preparing myself for the time I had to take Luke to get into class I wasn't prepared for the sound that followed. A loud ringing burst into the sky. It was the sound of a hundred sirens all ringing at once. At this terrible noise that the parents kissed their children goodbye and all the kids started heading towards the bush. Each following their own path, into one of the five buildings.

  The ringing ends but I can still hear something loud beating; it is Luke’s racing heart. He is new in this school and doesn’t know yet where he had to go and he is by himself. I look around to see if there was anyone who could help, but everyone seems to have disappeared as soon as the bell ended. I have to find another way to help Luke/myself, out.

  I remember I still have the remote in my hand. I transport myself out of Luke’s body and into his memory. His brain looks like a big walk-in closet. It is pink with cushions all over. It would have been great space for me to sit and gather my thoughts if it wasn’t so messy, full of thought bubbles.

  Thought bubbles are like mini crystal balls and balloons put together, with videos that play inside of them. Of course, when we don’t sleep right or when we are anxious they pile up, leaving our thoughts all jumbled up. It is my job to go into the dream world and sort them out. Sometimes the cleaning process is just a matter of being inside the dream and making sure that it goes all smoothly. This is always good for me and good for the child because it means they are relaxed, in control of their thoughts or maybe they have meditated during the day. However, when the dreamer is as anxious as Luke, I actually have to flick through all the memories and place them back in their right drawers.

  I point the remote control to the first bubble and an image shows up as if a hologram – a floating 3D virtual picture. It is a scene from Sunday. Luke was playing soccer with his parents. He is laughing and pointing at the ball. He runs as fast as possible towards it and then kicks the ball with all his might. The ball moves towards the goal at a super fast rate. As Luke’s father jumps to protect the ball from going into the goal, Luke slips and falls right on the mud. His parents rush towards him, but he wasn’t hurt, instead they all start laughing. It was a very sweet memory but no help for the moment.

  So, I press the ‘X’ on the remote control to close the image. I take the precious bubble in my hands and take it to the “Sweet Parental Memories” draw. It is one of the biggest drawers in Luke’s head – he really was lucky. All these memories weren’t needed right now in his dreams but one day, maybe in a few years, Luke will rummage through this drawer to remember all the good times with his family and how happy he is, even when he grumbles or fights with them.

  The second bubble was a bit heavier. I hoped that it would be more useful to help with the whole school situation. I point the remote control at it, and just as the first bubble, a hologram pops up. It was a scene of Luke’s father telling him a bed time story. It had happened just half an hour ago, I had even heard the scene from under the bed. I don’t remember hearing anything that would be useful to finding Luke’s classes in the dream, but I decide to watch a few more minutes of it. The story he told Luke was that of the Three Little Pigs. I’m sure you know the story – about the three pigs, each building a house. One was made out of straw, another of wood and the last of bricks. A hungry wolf came and tried to catch the pigs. He managed to blow down the straw house so the pig ran out into the second’s house. The wolf also managed to blow away the wooden house and the two pigs had to run to the third’s horse. No matter how much the wolf blew and blew he could not blow the bricks away. At the end of the tale, Luke’s father closed the book and kissed Luke on the forehead. Just before the dad walked towards the door, he turned to Luke and said that he would wake him up at eight and they would walk together to the new school.

  “That’s it!” I thought.

  Luke’s dad had said he would walk with Luke. So, he should be at the gates in front of the school and he would help us. I popped the bubble and took Luke’s dad by the hand – throwing him into the dream. He would definitely know what to do.

  Chapter 5

  Back in the dream, Luke is still walking around hopelessly not knowing where to go. It seems that his father still hadn’t appeared. Had I done something wrong? As soon as that thought appears in my head I feel a hand touch my shoulder. I look up and see Luke’s dad.

  “Hi, kiddo! Are you lost?” He asks and I nod.

  “No problem. Since it is your first day here we should head towards the office to find out where you are supposed to be going. They will probably even find a ‘buddy’ for you, so that they can show you around and help you make friends,”

  He holds my hand, and leads me towards the front office, away from the four one-storey buildings. I take one more look at the buildings, and I see that each one is full of students. I can hear them chattering and laughing. As we walk away, the noise gets quieter and quieter until it sounds like a quiet hum in the background. We reach the building at the front of the school, and step inside.

  “Excuse me, ma’am. My son is new at this school, and he doesn’t know where to go. I’m wondering if you could help us.” Luke’s dad says to the office secretary.

  “What’s his name?” She asks.

  “Luke Collingham”

  She types his name on her computer then turns to me and says, “Hi sweetie. You’re in Mrs McNally’s class. If you would both like to follow me into the classroom, your teachers will be expecting you.”

  With Luke’s dad holding my hand we walk slowly behind the secretary. I feel Luke’s hand shaking again and in his (my) head I tell him to take deep breaths and count to ten. We walk out of the office and towards the maze which contained the classrooms.

  As I walk down the steps I notice something had changed, there now stood a statue at the bottom of the step. It was a very realistic stone statue of a young girl. Her mouth is wide open and her eyes are wide open with fear. I find this rather strange and intimidating, but I decide that this is not important for Luke’s dreams.

  We continue walking towards Luke’s classroom. I hope that we are heading towards the modern building, because it was the most welcoming. It was up to Luke’s subconscious to decide where we are heading. Unfortunately, I just walked straight past it. The office lady takes us right to the back wall, towards a sixth building that I had not previously described or seen. There is even a chance, because dreams are always changing, that it did not actually exist before.

  The building is the scariest of all the other ones I had seen. It is a tall, narrow building with a sharp roof. It casts a huge shadow over us, making the day seem dark even though it’s still early morning. The building is made of black bricks and has a big arched door at the front. I follow the secretary to the door and she gestures me to go inside. I look down at the wooden steps leading towards the door, and they seem like they are about to break at any moment. I climb up reluctantly, the wood creaking underneath my feet. I look back at Luke’s dad and he gives me a quick hug.

  “Good luck on your first day of school. I’ll pick you up in the afternoon.” He says, and then both he and the secretary turn and walk away.

  I knock on the door, and it makes a loud thudding sound. I feel Luke’s hands starting to sweat, and his heart beating faster than usual. I glance back to where Luke’s dad and the secretary were standing, but they are already gone.

  The door creaks open, and I see a tall lady standi
ng in front of the room. She is about 60 years old. She has a very straight posture and seems quite young, but her hands give her age away; her hands are all wrinkly and her green veins popped out. Her skin is very pale and is a bit greener than normal. What I find most puzzling is that she is wearing black sunglasses, they are so big and black that completely hide her eyes. She is also wearing a floral bandana wrapped around her hair. The bandana matches her long summer dress. I’m pretty sure that there is some slight movement under her bandana. This must be Mrs McNally.

  “You’re late!”

  Chapter 6

  “You’re late,” Mrs McNally grumbles again. The students turn and stare at me. I stare back, unsure of what to say or where to go.

  “Class, this is the new student, Luke Collingham. Welcome him into our class,” Mrs McNally introduces him. Well, she is introducing me. This whole thing of being stuck in Luke’s body starts to get confusing.

  “Hello Luke,” the students mutter all at once.

  “Hello,” I reply shyly.

  “You may sit down now,” Mrs McNally tells me.

  The desks are organised in clusters with six students in each. The blackboard is very dirty and looks really old. The children are chattering amongst themselves. I gaze around the classroom, looking for an empty chair. Finally, I spot a free seat, in the corner of the room. It’s next to a boy with bright red hair and round glasses. As I walk towards him, he gives me a toothy grin. I sit down next to him and put my bag down.

  “Hi, I’m Marcus,” He whispers.

  Mrs McNally clears her throat and yells, “Quiet! Everyone settle down.”

  She slowly looks around the room, frowning at each individual. This intimidating gesture quietens the class.

  “We’ll start with Geography,” she continues, “Does anyone know anything about Greece?”