The little guy was lost. He peered into the darkness and tried to discover the path home, but he couldn’t remember the way. It seemed as if he’d been out here for a long time, but he couldn’t tell how long. Minutes, hours, days…they had no meaning to him. He hadn’t wanted to leave his warm little hiding place, but the hunger had become unbearable. So, he had wandered out into the dark. The little shivering child had kept within sight of home at first, looking for something to eat, until he sniffed something unmistakably edible off in the distance. He nervously scurried towards it, forgetting about safety. When he found the clump of bread, he began to devour it like an animal. He lost all perception of anything that didn’t have to do with quenching his hunger. His mouth full, his mind engrossed in the joy of food, he was surprised when the beast thundered from above. He froze in place. The unseen beast snorted and wheezed in the pitch black. Then silence. The child ran in the direction he thought was home. He was wrong.
The little one found himself in an even darker place than before. It smelled bad here. He thought the sky was closer, too. That couldn’t be right. He waited to see if the beast was nearby. Would the awful sound surprise him again? After a few seconds, he moved. When there was no response, he relaxed a little and finished swallowing his bread. He wished for water, but there was none. He managed to force it down. He walked further on, to find a giant cloth hanging from the low sky. He looked up as far as he could see. The child began to climb. He was a very good climber and managed to make it to the top in no time. As he pulled himself over the edge, he felt a great joy in being able to do it all by himself. Maybe from this high up perch he would be able to find the way home. He was just beginning to get his bearings and turned to see where he’d arrived, when the beast roared again. He froze in fear as he realized that the beast was right in front of him! The huge, round hairy thing was close enough to touch. His deep rumbling was so close that the child felt it, as well as heard it. With the cliff behind him, he had no choice but to run forward and hope to escape.
The thing’s bulk was covered with long, black hair that hung down to the ground. The child could climb it, so he did. He made it to the top in what felt like a lifetime but was just a few heavy heartbeats. From the top, he could feel the beast move beneath his feet. He stopped for just a second, and realized he could make out the way home in the distance. Then the thing moved. It rolled one way, and the little one was forced to run again, this time towards home. As the thing rolled, the child ran by two huge, closed eyes that opened as he passed. His heart was pounding in his chest as the eyes blinked. The child jumped for his life. He flew through the air and landed hard on the soft ground. Not waiting to see if he was hurt, the child ran for home, hoping the beast wasn’t following. The scream behind him shot through his spine like a jolt of electricity, but he didn’t stop. He vanished into the safety of the dark night.
The light came on suddenly.
“Kevin! What’s wrong? You screamed.” Mom said.
“I think a mouse ran over my head!” he said.
“Well, go back to sleep. We’ll put a trap in your closet in the morning.”
“Okay…” he said.
Mom turned the light back off, but left the door cracked so the hall light could reassure little twelve-year-old Kevin. He pulled the covers up and over his head to protect him from the hungry little beast in the closet. The daylight would embolden him to be the hunter of monsters, but tonight he would fear the little claws and teeth of the hungry beast in the dark.
Every Beast has its own fears.
Rolling Stones 