For 6 years since the eve of her twelfth b-day, Maria has been plagued by dreams of a horrific monster who chases her only to try and ravage her. One afternoon, after school, she finds a package on her bed. Inside are some toys from a childhood friend. Among them is a cute lil grey clown puppet. She awakens in the middle of the night to find the puppet sitting at the foot of her bed, watching her. Jokingly she asks what she should do with it..It answers. "FUCK ME." The voice of the doll is all too familiar (monster) She watches in horror as it rises up in the air, revealing that its attached to the arm of the monster who chased her in her dreams. The puppet leaps from the arm of the monster, and grows his own penis. The girl is pinned to the bed as first one then the other rape her in the dark.
Her chest was burning as stop to catch her breath, she looked around the alleyway, her eyes shooting in every direction. The sounds seemed to magnify as her chest heaved. Her small body trembled as a can rolled past her feet. She couldn't move! Her feet were stuck in something.
"Come on..." the voice called. "Why do you have to run from me? Why? When you know there is no escape!!"
The girl closed her eyes and began to cry, it was coming, and fast. Her worst fear was to be paralyzed, and now it was coming true. Of all the times to be so deathly afraid, she thought. She opened her eyes as she felt hot breath on her neck. There it was, right in front of her. Its large body all muscle, sinew, and dark fur. Its eyes nearly cat-like as it looked her over then smiled. Her skin twitched as it put one of its claws to her chin.
"Why? Why Maria? Why do you run from me?" She cried even more as it leaned toward her body lustfully.
"MARIA KELLEY!" Maria opened her almond-shaped grey eyes. She looked around dazed, watching everyone stare at her. The substitute stood at the front of the small classroom. She looked at Maria heatedly. The substitute shook her head slowly and went back to the assignment. Maria sighed and tried her best to forget what had happened. The dreams had been with her since she was twelve. Ever since her mother and father had divorced. Every night, it was the same. She would be home, watching television, and there would be scratching at the door. After looking out the window, she would go to the door to inspect. And there the monster would be. Fur matted, chest heaving, a low growl issuing from it's lips. And just before it grabbed her it always smiled, showing the fierceness of its sharp fang-like teeth. She would run for what seemed like ages coming to an empty alleyway, as she stopped to look behind her, her legs would become frozen, and then the monster would corner her. She could never get away. She had never even been remotely close.
"Maria?" She looked over to the perky blonde beside her. The girl looked concerned.
"I'll be alright. Just so damn tired.. I just need sleep." The girl nodded and went back to her book.
Maria looked out of the bus window. As the trees went by, she thought. You'd think a senior in high school wouldn't have childish nightmares like this happen. She sighed and let her mind float. She remembered the first time she had that dream. She was in her room, sleeping more soundly than she ever had. Her parents argument woke her up. She walked into her mother and father's bedroom, and stopped just short of the bed. Her mother stood there, a trickle of blood dripping from her bottom lip.
"Maria, go to bed. Mommy hit her lip on the bed." Maria knew very well that her father had done it, but she never hated him. She could never hate anyone. He'd never done anything wrong to her. Never abused or touched her wrong. But it was always different with her mother. There was always some small matter that caused an argument. Shortly after , she went back to her room, and slept, it was then that the monster showed. He was weak at first, but as Maria grew older, he grew stronger. He got bigger with every passing dream. Her mother took her to a child's therapist. Maria told her about the dreams. She told her of how she had a terrible fear of it. The answer was always the same.
"Relax more, and get some sleep." That's when he was there, that's when he took his pleasure in her. It was then that he took his hold upon her body.
"Honey!!" Maria looked to the small woman standing in the kitchen. Her apron was splattered with bits of that night's dinner. Her short hair was peppered with gray and black. She was only about thirty, yet her hair was quickly graying over. She looked at Maria and smiled.
"There's a package on your bed that arrived this morning." Maria nodded and thanked her mother. She then moved lazily up the stairs, dropping her books off at the top. As she opened her bedroom door, she saw the large brown box sitting on her pillows. It had no return address, but a postmark from her old town. There was a small note on top. She read it aloud.
"Maria, Here are a few things I thought you might like... Eric." There was only one Eric that she could remember. He was a friend of hers when she was around 10. He had been very nice to her, and everyone else. They were the best of friends.
She smiled and opened the box. She began pulling out animals, a few tigers with pink stripes, Dolls of all shapes and sizes, and at last buried at the bottom of the box was a small puppet, its greyish looking face painted like a tiny clown. Its clothes were slightly tattered, yet suited the small plaything. It seemed to smile back at her with its tiny button-like eyes. She felt a slight comfort gazing at it's tiny face, a kind of peace that she hadn't felt in a long time. Maria took a moment to arrange her newfound playmates upon the edge of her cedar chest by the window. Her shades had been put down, which, she supposed was a good thing. The dream was always followed by a headache right behind her eye. Of course there was aspirin, but it didn't help stop her dreams. Nothing did. A glance at the bedside clock made her sigh. It was so early in the day, yet she was so sleepy. Maria picked up a notebook from her backpack and began what she recognized as homework that her friend Alison had handed to her after class.
"I don't know Maria. You seem to be so jittery," she had said. "Ms. Hernandez was right in front of you and you never once woke up.."
Maria yawned and began the lengthy assignment her friend had copied.
"Maria? You okay sweetie?" Maria looked across the dinner table at her mother. She rubbed her temples before taking a drink from her glass. She nodded. Her mother thought it was nonsense to have the dreams. She said Maria was an immature little girl for having such thoughts. Maria knew it was ridiculous. She knew that it was just her imagination. But everytime she tried to convince herself that she was alright, He'd come back, worse than before. With each vision he got closer and closer to her, his tongue closer to her neck. She shook it off and looked at her mother.
"Mom..I had that dream again today." Her mother stopped eating and set down her fork. She sighed and looked at Maria sadly.
"Maria...Those dreams aren't real.. there's nothing there." Maria knew that, she didn't argue the point.
"I know mom.I know." Her mother smiled and went back to her meal, never looking up.
