THE MONSTER PARADE
Nicky was cold when he woke up. As he reached out for his blanket, he realised with a smack of fear that he was also wet. He scrambled up and looked down at the large dark circle on his bare, already yellowed, mattress and began to cry. Mummy said she would kill him if it ever happened again. Nicky squeezed the pink blanket to himself. He stared around for something that could help him but, as always, all he saw was his cluttered room and the grey, grubby wallpaper. He tried rubbing the wet bed with his blanket but it made no difference.
There was nothing for it. He would have to leave the house and run away. He thought about the monsters that lived outside and was scared but Nicky remembered the last time Daddy had wet his bed. Mummy had hit him with a bottle and then they had a fight and both of them went to hospital. There was still glass on the stairs.
Nicky went to the window and rubbed away a patch of dirt with his shirt-sleeve. Usually he was too frightened to look outside in case he saw the monsters and got nightmares like when Daddy showed him that film with the old lady in the bath. Nicky was glad to see that the street was empty and even more happy to see that Daddy’s car was gone. It was always safe for Daddy to go out because he was bigger and the monsters were scared of cars. If Mummy was asleep, Nicky could just walk out the door. He had never been outside before but he had no choice. Even if Mummy didn’t kill him, she would definitely shout and hurt him and his arm still hadn’t got better since he knocked her ashtray over.
Nicky couldn’t tell the time and didn’t have a clock anyway but the sky was starting to turn dark. He should go soon.
Just then, he saw two of the Men In Yellow walking up the street. He jumped back from the window, hoping they hadn’t seen him. Forgetting the wet patch, he crouched on his bed. Daddy had told Nicky all about the Men In Yellow. If he was to see one, he had to tell daddy straight away. Everyone knew that if you went outside the monsters would get you but the men in yellow would try to get in your house and that must never happen. Nicky had spent many nights awake, thinking about the Men In Yellow. He couldn’t believe he was about to go out there but he was going to be brave, like Ben 10. It would be hard because he didn’t know what the monsters looked like or even what they would do with him if they caught him. Mummy sometimes said that Nicky was a monster, so maybe they’d like him. They might look after him. If they were like the Cookie Monster it wouldn’t be so bad.
Nicky searched through the heaps of clothes in his room until he found a jumper and some trousers. Mummy always said it would be too cold for Nicky outside but if he took his blanket and some of Daddy’s socks, he thought he would be okay.
When he was dressed, Nicky squeaked his way down the stairs on tiptoes. He could see Mummy’s feet over the end of the settee and peered round the door to make sure she was asleep. She was. Nicky relaxed. He knew that nothing could wake her when she was sleeping. He knew he should leave quickly before Daddy came back but decided to take one last look at her. He started to cry again because he knew this would be the last time he saw her. She was wrapped in a dressing-gown and snoring. Nicky kissed her on the cheek before taking himself and his blanket quickly through the kitchen and out the back door.
He found himself in a small garden he never knew was there. He was surprised to find that he was no colder out here than in the house but the air he breathed felt icy and fresh. Nicky stood where he was for a few minutes while he thought about whether he was doing the right thing or not. In the end, it was clear he could not stay, so he started to walk. Once the decision had been made, he found it easy to keep going. He started to enjoy the feel of the night air rushing at his face as he ran down roads, sticking to the pavement where he found there were no cars, turning corners, following the lights.
It was when he stopped to catch his breath that he saw the first monster. It was a clown. He knew this because there was one just the same in one of his cartoons. Nicky watched a lot of cartoons, even though he didn’t understand most of them. Now he waited as the clown walk towards him, excited and scared at the same time. The clown saw him staring and smiled at Nicky with a big, red, silly, mouth. Nicky giggled. He liked clowns. He watched until it went round a corner and out of sight. Perhaps Nicky was a monster and that was why the clown-monster had smiled at him.
There was lots of noise coming from a road up ahead and Nicky saw it was packed with monsters. He ran towards them, wanting to see more clowns, and was delighted to see hundreds of monsters of all sizes. He was unable at first to do anything but stand with his mouth open as monster after monster marched down the crowded street. Music was playing and some of them were dancing.
Some had white faces, some had big teeth or wings and many of them carried glowing orange balls with jagged faces on. Some held hands and a couple of the smaller ones sat on the shoulders of the bigger ones. All of them were smiling and so was Nicky. He joined in the crowd and it felt warm.
After a little while they all stopped and stood or sat in groups. A wonderful smell floated over to Nicky and he realised it was coming from the food the people were eating. He thought that monster food must be delicious and went to find some. Behind where the group was biggest was a long table where monsters were giving food out. Nicky knew he looked a bit different to the others, so was shy about asking for some but the smell was so good! He made his way through the crowd until he was face to face with a tall monster with long, black, hair and a green face. It said nothing to him.
‘Can I have some food?’ Nicky said. He did not know as many words as Mummy and daddy but he hoped the monster understood him.
‘What would you like?’ said the monster. It had a voice a bit like Mummy’s.
‘Can I have some food?’ said Nicky, ‘I’m hungry and smells good’.
The monster put her head on the side and looked at Nicky for a while. Eventually, she handed him a round sandwich with something hot and brown in the middle. Nicky smiled and started to eat it quickly. He’d never had hot food before and had no idea that it could taste like this. When he was done, the lady-monster handed him another.
‘Are you on your own?’ she asked.
Nicky wasn’t sure what she meant. He looked around at all the happy monsters. ‘I’m a monster’, he said.
‘Wait there’, the lady-monster said. She came round to his side of the table, carrying a cup of juice and a small bag of sweets. A few of the other monsters that were closest to him had started to notice him too now. They looked concerned, their noses wrinkled. The lady-monster led Nicky to a stone statue and told him to sit down on a step, eat up and she’d be back in a minute.
While Nicky gobbled up his dinner, thrilled by all the new tastes, he saw that the lady-monster was with some of the Men In Yellow. They were talking and looking at Nicky. For a moment he was scared again but then he remembered that he was like them now.
The Men In Yellow came over to Nicky and one of them crouched down in front of him. ‘Hi there’, he said. Underneath their hats, the men in yellow didn’t look much like monsters at all. ‘What’s your name, mate?’
‘Nicky’, said Nicky, ‘are you going to look after me?’
The Man In Yellow looked surprised, and then said, ‘yes. Come with us and we’ll take care of you’.
Nicky realised he was crying again but this time it was because he was happy. He felt happier than ever before. His belly was full and he was warm. Mummy wasn’t going to kill him because the monsters would take care of him. He had been brave and now he was going stay here and live with the monsters.
Aww! I love this little story. Well done you.
ReplyDeleteThis is really good... Poor Nicky, I hope he manages to stay with the monsters!
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