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Speaker 1: Welcome Back friends to short stories for kids.

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Speaker 2: There's something hairy under my bed. Emily was not afraid

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of many things. Spiders did not bother her. Thunderstorms were cozy,

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and even the old trees scratching against her window on

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windy nights had never frightened her. But lately, something strange

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had been happening beneath her bed, something hairy, something hungry,

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and Emily was determined to find out what it was.

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It began two weeks earlier when she secretly took a

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bag of potato chips upstairs for a midnight snack. Emily

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knew she was not supposed to eat in bed. Crumbs

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attract ants. Mom always said Emily could handle ants. What

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Mom never mentioned was the possibility of attracting a giant,

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furry arm from another world. That night, Emily hid the

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chips beneath her pillow while Mom came to say good night.

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What's that rustling sound? Mom asked, Emily froze, rustling sound.

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The bag crinkled beneath her pillow. Mom nearrowed her eyes.

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Emily quickly sat on it. Probably the curtains. The curtains

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aren't moving, Maybe they're shy, Mom, stared at her, then

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shook her head. Get tucked in. You need to be

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awake for school tomorrow. She kissed Emily's forehead, switched off

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the lamp and left. Emily grabbed the chips. She had

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eaten half the bag. When footsteps returned, Panicking, she shoved

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it beneath the rug beside her bed. Mom opened the door.

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Did I leave my phone in here? Emily sat perfectly still. No.

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Mom found it on the dresser and left. Several minutes later,

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Emily leaned over the side of the bed. A pink

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glow shimmered beneath it, like strange moonlight. Cold mist curled

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across the carpet. Then a large, furry hand slowly reached out.

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Emily stopped breathing. The hand was enormous, covered in blue

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and purple fur, with thick, fuzzy fingers. It patted the

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carpet left, right, left again. The fingers found the chip

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bag and wiggled excitedly. The hand dragged it beneath the

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bed rum Num num. The glow vanished. Emily waited nearly

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a minute before looking underneath. Nothing was there except toy cars, books,

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a slipper, and a sock stiff enough to stand by itself.

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The chips were gone. The next morning, Emily told her

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best friend Casey, uh, hairy hand, Casey asked at lunch,

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Emily nodded blue and purple. Casey leaned closer. Maybe you

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have a monster under your bed. Then she threw up

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her hands wa A boy nearby jumped and spilled his juice.

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Emily rolled her eyes. A potato chip eating monster. Maybe

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it's hungry. That evening, Emily performed an experiment. She sneaked

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a slice of chocolate cake upstairs and hid it beneath

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her blanket. Mom sat on the edge of the bed,

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only inches from it. Please don't sit on the cake,

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Emily thought. Mom shifted. Emily held her breath. Luckily she

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missed it. Are you feeling okay? Mom asked, you look nervous.

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I'm fine, very fine. Mom gave her a strange look,

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kissed her good night, and left. Emily placed the cake

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on a comic book in the middle of the floor

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and waited. The pink light returned, missed, spilled across the carpet,

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and the furry hand reached out. It searched but could

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not reach the cake. Then the arms stretched and stretched

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and stretched, it became longer than the bed, longer than

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the rug, and long enough to cross the entire room.

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The fingers grabbed the cake and dragged it away. Rum

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num num. The next day, Casey listened with her mouth open.

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You know what you have to do? She said, what

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trap it? Then she lowered her voice, lah ah.

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Speaker 1: Could you stop doing that? No.

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Speaker 2: That evening, Emily prepared. She fastened an old plastic plate

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to a heavy wooden board and glued plastic fruit to it.

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No monster would drag that away. Next, she borrowed the

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vat vacuum cleaner and hid it behind a chair for protection.

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She wore her brother's football helmet and shoulder pads. The

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helmet kept sliding over her eyes. This is ridiculous, she muttered,

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but she kept it on. After Mom said good night,

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Emily waited. The pink glow appeared, missed curled from beneath

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the bed. The hairy arms stretched toward the fruit and pulled.

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Nothing happened. It pulled harder. The board scraped, but did

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not move. Emily jumped up and grabbed the vacuum got

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you room. The nozzle sucked at the monster's hand. Blue

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and purple fur vanished into the tube. A deep voice

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cried out, whoa. Emily pulled backward with all her strength.

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The monster pulled the other way. She felt as though

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she were reeling in the world's largest, hairiest fish. It's working.

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Then the monster gave one enormous tug. Emily flew forward.

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Her helmet slid over her eyes, and she tripped over

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the vacuum before disappearing beneath the bed. Pink lights surrounded her.

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Wind rushed past, then she landed on a black and

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white checkerboard floor. The vacuum crashed beside her, and her

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helmet spun away. Hey, boomed a voice, what's the big idea?

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Emily looked up. A giant monster towered over her. He

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was covered in thick blue and purple fur, with two

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small horns, enormous feet, and a round, friendly face. He

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shook his sore hand. You tried to vacuum my fingers off,

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Emily stared. He was huge, but he looked more confused

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than frightening. I thought you were stealing my snacks. Your snacks.

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Emily looked around. She stood in an enormous kitchen. Chairs

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rose like trees, table legs looked like towers. And a

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refrigerator the size of a house stood open behind her.

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At the back of it glowed the pink portal beneath

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Emily's bed. The monster pointed, I thought I was reaching

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into the back of my ice box, plained, sometimes food

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falls behind the shelves. Emily finally understood. You thought my

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bedroom was part of your refrigerator. He nodded. I thought

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I had forgotten some excellent snacks. He looked, embarrassed. I

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did wonder why there were comic books in my ice box,

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Emily laughed. The monster introduced himself as Yowie. He lived

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in Monsterland, where everything was enormous, colorful, and slightly upside down.

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Through the window, Emily saw crooked houses, giant monsters riding

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tiny bicycles, and a three headed creature carrying one umbrella.

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Monsterland is strange, Emily said. Yowie nodded proudly. WE like

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it that way. Emily explained that he did not need

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to steal food she would share. The next night, Yowie

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climbed through the portal and lifted Emily's bed several inches

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off the floor. She had prepared a feast of potato chips,

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chocolate cake, rainbow cookies and grapes, real grapes. Yowie examined them.

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These are less shiny than yesterday's. Those were plastic, I noticed.

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He sat on the carpet and ate happily. After that,

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Emily and Yowie became good friends. She left comic books

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beneath the bed for him. Yowie brought gifts from Monsterland,

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including a bouncing rock, a singing spoon, and a sock

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that growled with never anyone tried to wear it. Mom

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never discovered the portal, but one morning she found a

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giant blue hair on the carpet and held it up suspiciously. Emily,

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is there something hairy under your bed? Emily looked beneath

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the mattress. Two furry fingers waved from the pink mist.

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She smiled, No, nothing scary anyway. From that day on,

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Emily never worried about monsters beneath her bed, although she

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did start keeping extra snacks nearby. After all, monsters became

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very hungry, especially after midnight. The end and