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Chris J. Franklin's avatar

Here's a quick Haiku for this one...

THE MONSTER UNDER THE BED

She taught him to dance,

One night, just for fun, and now,

He’s ‘The Boogieman’… 🕺😎🕺

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Logan the Lobotomizer's avatar

“Jersey”

Edwin didn’t believe the dumb stories about the boogeyman. He scoffed when his classmates talked about the boogeyman abducting children at night. Monsters weren’t real. If his friends were trying to scare him - they’d have to try harder! One nervous night, Edwin woke up in a cold sweat. A man in a spiky trench coat with a rubbery pallid face, messy black hair, and nail-studded wristlets stood at the foot of Edwin’s bed. He held a noose in his gloved hands. A moldy scent assailed the air. The noose fell around Edwin’s neck. Edwin was wrong - the boogeyman was real.

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Miguel S.'s avatar

That is an awful visual. Well done!

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Logan the Lobotomizer's avatar

Thank you. It’s based off the real life Beast of Jersey. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Paisnel

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olivia s's avatar

Happy thanksgiving! (Not really celebrating it as well here in Australia...:) ). This is a cute story, now I make association of Boogeyman with a fluffy cat....

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Miguel S.'s avatar

I head no idea you are from Australia! That's so cool. I would prefer Boogeeymans to be fluffy cats 🤣

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olivia s's avatar

that's why I am posting notes on very 'delayed' hours, I am actually guessing you are not in US time zone either, from the time you are posting your comments...

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Miguel S.'s avatar

Yup I'm in Central Europe, I think we should be about 12 hours apart from each other.

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C J O'Hare's avatar

John crawled under the bed.

His daughter’s feet squirmed nervously, expectantly, dolly dangling in the lamplight of the tiny one-bedroom apartment they shared.

Boogeymen.

“Don’t worry honey, Daddy’ll make it right. For once in his life, he’ll do something right.”

Pale light filtered through the broken floorboard. He pulled it aside, and their bewildered eyes met.

Lining up a pool cue at the splintered ceiling of the tiny one-bedroom apartment she shared with her son, clutching his teddy-bear nervously, expectantly - hunting boogeymen of their own - all fear, all loss, all apprehension, melted away, as their two dingy apartments became one.

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Miguel S.'s avatar

That is awesome story CJ. "hunting boogeymen of their own" this sentence sealed the story so beautifully. Well done!

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C J O'Hare's avatar

Thanks Miguel - think that was the last thing I added, it needed it, and I had to kill a lot of words to make room for it. I'm sure you can relate!

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Jeannine's avatar

There are boogeymen in the closet

And some right down the hall,

But the boogeyman inside my brain

Is the very worst of all.

There's a boogeyman in the basement

And one under my bed,

But the boogeyman I can't ignore

Is living in my head.

I can always lock the closet door

And stay out of the hall.

But my head is always with me

And I can not let it fall.

I can turn on the basement light

And keep my feet in bed,

But my brain is dark and creepy

And to fear my mind is wed.

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Evelyn K. Brunswick's avatar

...that explains why you used an American spelling for 'mum'.

Oh, dash it, I do wish Americans would learn how to spell properly.

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Miguel S.'s avatar

I'm Czech, english is not my native language 😭 We learned the British spellings in school, but since most of the stuff that I consume (books, movies, series etc.) are from the US I use a mix of spellings. Also I honestly didn't realize mom/mum is different spelling, I always thought mom is like the "right" way and mum is more like a dialect/slang/accent thing.

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Evelyn K. Brunswick's avatar

Ah - that's kind of ironic! Mum is the English (British English, I mean) spelling I always grew up with. I have noticed actually how a lot of non-English learners of English end up learning US English, and even speaking it with a kind of weird American accent. I once mistook an Italian friend of mine for a real American when I first met her, which just shows how good she was at English I guess!

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Miguel S.'s avatar

That happened to my sister when visiting Canada! They thought she is from the US based on her English haha. I think that the US English is way more represented in media so you kinda get feel for it.

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Dustin's avatar

I'm very grateful for you and this amazing community that you made possible!

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Scott MacLeod's avatar

The boogeyman had been in Cal’s head for four years. Cal saw him everywhere he went. On the street. In the market. At work. On TV. Under the bed of course. He had spread fear throughout the land. Today the boogeyman was behind the curtains. Finally, Cal had enough. Outside, the early November winds howled but Cal steeled himself and resolved to confront his demon once and for all. You handle a boogeyman by facing him head on. Cal flung open the cloth drapes and strode into the voting booth with purpose, to fight with the only weapon he had.

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Miguel S.'s avatar

That is very clever Scott. I love it.

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Scott MacLeod's avatar

Thx, tried to swerve from horror , but maybe i didn’t lol

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Jeannine's avatar

That one was cute! Feed the monster....

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Miguel S.'s avatar

Thank you! Yeah throw a cookie at it and be good haha.

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Ken W.'s avatar

"Look at that thing!" he screamed and pointed. His cameras panned over.

"How Horrible!" the crowd said.

"Fear that thing! I will destroy it! I just need a little help from you," he said.

Everyone cheered and gave him their money.

The thing yawned and went back to sleep. The next morning, it got up and went to school. Everyone screamed at it. They started attacking everything like it.

“Don’t worry, he’ll save us,” they said.

He counted his money and laughed under his breath. Until the money stopped going up.

So, he went online and found something else. “Look at that thing! It’s terrible!”

Everyone screamed in terror. And opened their wallets.

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Miguel S.'s avatar

Endless cycle of fear. Great one Ken!

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Nov 29
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Miguel S.'s avatar

🤣 that caught me by surprise. Great one!

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C J O'Hare's avatar

Love it - feeling a lot of love for the boogeyman tonight!

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