Speaker 1: Welcome Back friends to short stories for kids.
Speaker 2: There's something hairy under my bed. Emily was not afraid
of many things. Spiders did not bother her. Thunderstorms were cozy,
and even the old trees scratching against her window on
windy nights had never frightened her. But lately, something strange
had been happening beneath her bed, something hairy, something hungry,
and Emily was determined to find out what it was.
It began two weeks earlier when she secretly took a
bag of potato chips upstairs for a midnight snack. Emily
knew she was not supposed to eat in bed. Crumbs
attract ants. Mom always said Emily could handle ants. What
Mom never mentioned was the possibility of attracting a giant,
furry arm from another world. That night, Emily hid the
chips beneath her pillow while Mom came to say good night.
What's that rustling sound? Mom asked, Emily froze, rustling sound.
The bag crinkled beneath her pillow. Mom nearrowed her eyes.
Emily quickly sat on it. Probably the curtains. The curtains
aren't moving, Maybe they're shy, Mom, stared at her, then
shook her head. Get tucked in. You need to be
awake for school tomorrow. She kissed Emily's forehead, switched off
the lamp and left. Emily grabbed the chips. She had
eaten half the bag. When footsteps returned, Panicking, she shoved
it beneath the rug beside her bed. Mom opened the door.
Did I leave my phone in here? Emily sat perfectly still. No.
Mom found it on the dresser and left. Several minutes later,
Emily leaned over the side of the bed. A pink
glow shimmered beneath it, like strange moonlight. Cold mist curled
across the carpet. Then a large, furry hand slowly reached out.
Emily stopped breathing. The hand was enormous, covered in blue
and purple fur, with thick, fuzzy fingers. It patted the
carpet left, right, left again. The fingers found the chip
bag and wiggled excitedly. The hand dragged it beneath the
bed rum Num num. The glow vanished. Emily waited nearly
a minute before looking underneath. Nothing was there except toy cars, books,
a slipper, and a sock stiff enough to stand by itself.
The chips were gone. The next morning, Emily told her
best friend Casey, uh, hairy hand, Casey asked at lunch,
Emily nodded blue and purple. Casey leaned closer. Maybe you
have a monster under your bed. Then she threw up
her hands wa A boy nearby jumped and spilled his juice.
Emily rolled her eyes. A potato chip eating monster. Maybe
it's hungry. That evening, Emily performed an experiment. She sneaked
a slice of chocolate cake upstairs and hid it beneath
her blanket. Mom sat on the edge of the bed,
only inches from it. Please don't sit on the cake,
Emily thought. Mom shifted. Emily held her breath. Luckily she
missed it. Are you feeling okay? Mom asked, you look nervous.
I'm fine, very fine. Mom gave her a strange look,
kissed her good night, and left. Emily placed the cake
on a comic book in the middle of the floor
and waited. The pink light returned, missed, spilled across the carpet,
and the furry hand reached out. It searched but could
not reach the cake. Then the arms stretched and stretched
and stretched, it became longer than the bed, longer than
the rug, and long enough to cross the entire room.
The fingers grabbed the cake and dragged it away. Rum
num num. The next day, Casey listened with her mouth open.
You know what you have to do? She said, what
trap it? Then she lowered her voice, lah ah.
Speaker 1: Could you stop doing that? No.
Speaker 2: That evening, Emily prepared. She fastened an old plastic plate
to a heavy wooden board and glued plastic fruit to it.
No monster would drag that away. Next, she borrowed the
vat vacuum cleaner and hid it behind a chair for protection.
She wore her brother's football helmet and shoulder pads. The
helmet kept sliding over her eyes. This is ridiculous, she muttered,
but she kept it on. After Mom said good night,
Emily waited. The pink glow appeared, missed curled from beneath
the bed. The hairy arms stretched toward the fruit and pulled.
Nothing happened. It pulled harder. The board scraped, but did
not move. Emily jumped up and grabbed the vacuum got
you room. The nozzle sucked at the monster's hand. Blue
and purple fur vanished into the tube. A deep voice
cried out, whoa. Emily pulled backward with all her strength.
The monster pulled the other way. She felt as though
she were reeling in the world's largest, hairiest fish. It's working.
Then the monster gave one enormous tug. Emily flew forward.
Her helmet slid over her eyes, and she tripped over
the vacuum before disappearing beneath the bed. Pink lights surrounded her.
Wind rushed past, then she landed on a black and
white checkerboard floor. The vacuum crashed beside her, and her
helmet spun away. Hey, boomed a voice, what's the big idea?
Emily looked up. A giant monster towered over her. He
was covered in thick blue and purple fur, with two
small horns, enormous feet, and a round, friendly face. He
shook his sore hand. You tried to vacuum my fingers off,
Emily stared. He was huge, but he looked more confused
than frightening. I thought you were stealing my snacks. Your snacks.
Emily looked around. She stood in an enormous kitchen. Chairs
rose like trees, table legs looked like towers. And a
refrigerator the size of a house stood open behind her.
At the back of it glowed the pink portal beneath
Emily's bed. The monster pointed, I thought I was reaching
into the back of my ice box, plained, sometimes food
falls behind the shelves. Emily finally understood. You thought my
bedroom was part of your refrigerator. He nodded. I thought
I had forgotten some excellent snacks. He looked, embarrassed. I
did wonder why there were comic books in my ice box,
Emily laughed. The monster introduced himself as Yowie. He lived
in Monsterland, where everything was enormous, colorful, and slightly upside down.
Through the window, Emily saw crooked houses, giant monsters riding
tiny bicycles, and a three headed creature carrying one umbrella.
Monsterland is strange, Emily said. Yowie nodded proudly. WE like
it that way. Emily explained that he did not need
to steal food she would share. The next night, Yowie
climbed through the portal and lifted Emily's bed several inches
off the floor. She had prepared a feast of potato chips,
chocolate cake, rainbow cookies and grapes, real grapes. Yowie examined them.
These are less shiny than yesterday's. Those were plastic, I noticed.
He sat on the carpet and ate happily. After that,
Emily and Yowie became good friends. She left comic books
beneath the bed for him. Yowie brought gifts from Monsterland,
including a bouncing rock, a singing spoon, and a sock
that growled with never anyone tried to wear it. Mom
never discovered the portal, but one morning she found a
giant blue hair on the carpet and held it up suspiciously. Emily,
is there something hairy under your bed? Emily looked beneath
the mattress. Two furry fingers waved from the pink mist.
She smiled, No, nothing scary anyway. From that day on,
Emily never worried about monsters beneath her bed, although she
did start keeping extra snacks nearby. After all, monsters became
very hungry, especially after midnight. The end and