I am the monster in her closet. I have long sharp teeth that glint in the light, a tall stature guaranteed to intimidate anyone and anything, red glowing eyes and dark scaly skin. This girl has had many other monsters but they have all come back trembling in fear. How are the scariest monsters scared of a small little girl? I hold my breath in anticipation as I hear her little footsteps come into the room. Her short brown hair flows freely behind her as she darts into the room. The girl is breathing heavily and her eyes wide in freight. She scans the room before her eyes land on the closet and I freeze as she might have just spotted me. She flings the door open and pauses in surprise but doesn’t miss a beat to recover

“Move over!” She whisper shouts at me unfazed by my appearance. I look at her questioningly as I slowly shuffle over. She rushes in and expertly closes the door behind her not making a single sound. We stand there in silence for a few moments, I’m about to say something when I hear a shrill voice screaming the girls name and I see her flinch and slap her hand over her mouth. Her mother figure storms into the room looking around for the girl. We watch as she looks around the room before wandering over to the closet, I can tell the girl is trying her hardest not to make a noise, holding her breath. The door is flung open and I’m met with a tall skinny woman glaring down at her daughter. She grabs her daughter roughly by the arm, hard enough to leave bruises and drags her out before throwing her down on the ground. Her head hits the ground with a loud thud and she lets out a squeal.

“Shut up!” Her mother spits down at her. “Why haven’t you picked up your room yet, it’s a mess!”

“I’m sorry” the girl cries out, shielding her face with her hands. “I promise I’ll do it now, I promise” she pleads, desperation clear in her shaky voice.

“You should have listened to me the first time you little brat, you are worthless, you know that? If your father and I get divorced it’ll be all your fault, in fact it’s your fault the whole family is falling apart! One day I will die and you’ll have no one to blame but yourself, you disgust me” the mother screams. I can tell the girl is close to breaking down but hardens her face and holds her breath to hide all emotions. Finally the mother snaps, she slaps and punches the girl over and over while screaming, as if she were a punching bag and not her child. However the girl is somehow keeping a straight face, showing no emotion, taking the hits and the words over and over without a flinch or a blink.

 Finally after the mother seemingly released her anger she grits out, “Clean your room”. She stomps away slamming the door behind her. For a moment I think the girl is knocked out as she lays still on the ground in complete silence. Just a few moments later she curls into herself and puts her hand over her mouth to muffle the sounds of agony as her body shakes and her eyes release enough tears to fill an ocean. Her silenced whimpers echoing off the walls. I quietly slither out from the closet and bend down to pick her small body up, she doesn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around me in welcome, holding onto me like she’s drowning and I’m a flotation device. I am not scary to her, there's only one thing that scares her. Other kids are scared of the dark, thunder, or the monster under their bed, but she has something much bigger and much more real to fear, her mother. I creep over to her bed and carefully place her under the covers and gently pull the covers over her and tuck her hair behind her ear, caressing her tear stained face. I begin to retreat to the closet but she grabs my hand, pulling me back and looks up at me, her eyes red and glossy.

“Please stay, I don’t want to be alone” she begs. I smile and I lay down beside her, wrapping my arms around her frail body and pulling her in close. I decide then and there, I will not be her monster in her closet or her monster under her bed, instead I will protect this girl with everything I have and make sure her mother never harms her again. Her breathing becomes slower as she drifts off to sleep. Once she is sound asleep I slip away, I know what I need to do. I quietly exit the girls room and slip into the room where the mother is fast asleep.