A MONSTER IN THE CLOSET

There we were. Standing face to face. I’m standing confident and strong with Ellie in my arms. She’s cautious and worried. She doesn’t remember her curious history with this monster. She’s perfectly still in my arms holding onto my shirt. She looks at me only with her eyes. Her head stays still. Then she looks at the monster. Then back at me. My fear for this monster has faded long ago. Not only has my fear faded, but I have tamed this monster to be a productive member of the household. Even with it's mighty growl and lighted eyes, I still feel no fear. Today, I try to teach Ellie that this is a monster we control.

We all stand in the kitchen, silent, waiting for the monster to awaken. It stays quiet and perfectly still until I command it alive. I tell Ellie, “okay, are you ready? It’s going to get loud.” She looks at me, then at the monster. She squeezes my shirt a little tighter. I take this as a yes. Then with my demand it comes alive with a roar! Ellie jumps and gets closer. Now we are guiding it through the house. It’s lighted eyes are hovering over the floor looking for prey, it’s mouth aggressively removing any sign of dust, dirt, or debris. Shoes beware, for you will be sucked in by your laces and swallowed whole! We go from room to room destroying anything in our path. Ellie eventually relaxes and rests her head on my chest, but her eyes are still fixated on the monster. I command the monster to stop. I let it rest in the hallway while Ellie and I sit in the living room. She stares at it and then at me. I think she is still uneasy with it. She climbs up on me and lies down on my chest and turns her head away from it. Eventually she gets up and starts playing but cautiously keeps looking over her shoulder at it. Her smile turns to a frown and her bottom lip starts to quiver. “Ellie, it’s okay… It’s asleep now. It’s job is done,” I say. We walk over to it. She sits next to it, looking up in awe and amazement, but also with a fearful curiosity. She stands up against it… She places her hands on its body… She was brave at first… But then the monster uses it’s intimidation tactic with it’s mighty presence… She loses it and starts bawling!

Well, this sucks!