[ WP ] One day , a monster crawls up from beneath your bed , and asks `` Can i sleep up here ? Its scary down there . `` .

When I was only seven, my father left. My mother used to tell me he went to save children in a third world country. After I turned fifteen, she figured I was old enough and finally admitted that he left her after an argument, went to the bar, and died on his way home. It was a sad story. But it was n't the truth. 
 
 I remember that night so vividly. How could I forget, when every dream is always a replay of what happened. He came home that night. He walked home from the bar so he would n't be hurt, leaving his keys on the table. I can only assume a drunk stole his car. There was too much damage to identify the body after the car exploded. 
 
 As for my father, however, he came home. My bedroom was right next to the door, so when he knocked, I heard it, and let him in. 
 
 `` Where's your mother?'' He asked me. I told him she fell asleep a while ago. He mumbled a frustrated response, then told me to go to bed. 
 
 `` But I'm scared,'' I replied. `` I ca n't sleep until you scare the monsters away!'' 
 
 He never rolled his eyes at me, and never told me to stop imagining things. This night, like all others, he carried me to my room, tucked me into bed, and leaned down to tell the monsters to go away. 
 
 But this night was different. As soon as he started to speak, I saw it. A skeletal hand, with nails long and dark, reached out and wrapped around his neck. He started to choke, flailing trying to escape. At seven years old, all I could do was scream. 
 
 By time my mother got there, he was gone. I told her what happened, and she said it was just a bad dream. But there was no denying the headline the next day. 
 
 In their defense, I would n't believe me either. Even the therapist my mother took me to almost convinced me it was a dream, and he would come home years later from Africa to see me again. 
 
 One Friday night, when I was ten, I finally gathered the courage to find my father. I grabbed my stuffed teddy, my unicorn flashlight, and a chocolate bar I got at school earlier that day. I lay flat on the floor, staring into the abyss underneath my bed. `` Do n't be scared,'' I told myself. After an eternity, I finally shimmied under the bed. 
 
 I was n't prepared for what I saw. Hell would have been more pleasant than this. Monsters, demons, and creatures I did n't have a name for. But no father. 
 
 Every night for a month I went back, hiding behind piles of bones and detached limbs. The world there was stained with blood. I watched every night as monsters pulled in new victims. I never found any of them again, but I could only assume the worst. 
 
 I thought that was behind me when I moved to university. Until last night. 
 
 My roommate was out with her boyfriend, so I was by myself. I heard a thump that was familiar. The sound of one of them coming out from under the bed. 
 
 `` Can I sleep up here? It's scary down there.'' 
 
 His voice was so familiar, one I had n't heard in years. I rolled over, and handed him my teddy. `` I know,'' was all I could say before we fell asleep. 
 
 I woke up this morning and he was gone. I hope he comes back tonight. I finally did n't dream of that night. The monsters were finally scared away.
