 I was lying alone in my room when I heard the voice, deep and crackly, coming from beneath my bed. Hey! The voice called out. I told myself I was just imagining it. Hey kid! The voice repeated. I drew my knees to my chest and ducked my head under the blanket, trying to shut out the voice in the cold wind that drifted in through the window, ruffling the curtains. Who are you? I asked. I'm the monster underneath your bed. The voice replied. You're real. I asked. What do you mean? The monster said. Of course I'm real. Do you have a name? I asked. Of course I have a name. Oh well. What is it? Frank. Frank? Yeah. The monster said. There's something wrong with it? No. I mean. I don't know. I said. It's just not very monsterly. Well, my pants didn't want me to be a monster. Really? What did they want you to be? A dentist. That's funny. I said. I could feel myself, but you need to smile. What do your pants want you to be? It asked. I-I don't know. A Frank? Yeah. Aren't you gonna, like, scare me or something? What? Why would I do that? Well. You're a monster, aren't you? Well, yeah. Of course I am. But that doesn't mean I scare little kids. But I thought that was your job. It is my job to scare people, you replied. But only bad people. Am I a bad person? I asked. Nah. You said. But you're not the one I'm here to scare. Who are you here to scare? I asked. The man inside your closet. The skin on my arms goose-fleshed up. I wanted to ask him what he meant, but I fell silent as I heard a wrestling coming from the closet. The door creaked open and I could hear soft footsteps patting towards me across the bedroom floor. I didn't dare peek out of my blanket. The footsteps stopped and I could hear heavy breathing next to me. I squeezed my eyes tight. The warm sanctuary of the blanket disappeared as it was yanked off me. I hugged my arms around my knees and prepared for the worst. A scream shattered the night air, followed by the sound of breaking glass. I opened my eyes a crack to see a knife lying on the carpet next to my bed, blade glinting in the moonlight. My parents rushed into the room and asked me what had happened, but I didn't know what to say. Only that someone had been hiding in my closet and they jumped out the window. My parents called 911 and the police came right away. They picked up a man called Gary Thompson, sprinting through the streets a couple blocks away. He was covered in blood and broken glass. They found Gary's car abandoned on our property and inside they found duct tape, knives, barbiturates and a video camera. From what I heard Gary's lawyer employed an insanity defense and Gary is currently incarcerated in a state mental facility for the criminally insane. I never heard from Frank the monster again, but the officer who arrested Gary told me that he sleeps on the floor of the facility. He tells the doctors that he's terrified of Frank, the monster under his bed.