The Art Tantrum: 2010

My name is Abby, I am six years old. I have imaginary friends and monsters under my bed. There are people with heavy footsteps that patrol the hallway outside my bedroom door when the sun goes down in my little world. If it wasn't for Brother (my teddy bear) and his ability to ward off the monsters with his obvious super bear powers, I may not have seen my sixth birthday.

Lately, there have been some unseen night-time forces that have provided me with more stress than a chubby little girl should have to deal with. Many nights I lay scared in bed with my face under the blankets, or stand on my bed with the sheets on my head. Sometimes my heart beats so hard, I can feel it in my ears. One night there was a loud bang underneath my bed. For a moment I thought my heart would actually come out of my mouth. I was so scared I couldn't move. Obviously the noise had come from a huge faceless man in a long black cloak with a hood over his head that ate children in the middle of the night. Hopefully my end would be quick and painless. At one stage I considered making a run for my parent's bedroom, because nobody is stronger than my daddy, but I knew that the hallway patrollers with the heavy footsteps would kill me before I could reach their door.

Yep, darkness and silence are my enemies. Light and music are my friends. A night light made me less likely to be killed. In the stillness of the night, old creaking floor boards become deadly hallway patrollers. Branches blowing against my window became some kind of kid-killer and any noise in my room became a monster under my bed. I hear a the noise, jumped up on the bed with the sheets still on my head and I grabbed Brother. He was scare too, he covered his eyes. Neither one of us knew what to do. There was a monster waiting to eat me under my bed. Then I thought, maybe he'll like to eat my brother instead.