Waves splash against the dark moss-covered rocks. Thunder strikes, lightning explodes the haunted gray sky echoes over the waves. Crack! I sit straight up, my neck craned to the ceiling and I let out a loud groan. That was my reoccurring nightmare. Waking up on a cold hard cliff edge, being pulled by the arm by a withering decaying hand into the freezing, below 0, sea. That reoccurring nightmare was me, by myself in the realm of monsters. Yes, me, Evelyn J. Jones has been to the Realm of Monsters. And as a matter of fact, the entrance was right under my bed. 

Every child knows every adult knows that in a closet, under a bed, hidden in a fish tank, a monster lays, waiting to have the chance to take a child to the Realm of Monsters. Or at least now they know. To be taken down to the deep depths of the ocean, to be held captive in an underwater volcano, to not know if you were to survive. That is all I thought when I was there. But thankfully I was saved, by who knows what, a fairy? I did not know, all I saw was a glowing light and I was back in my bed, sitting like I am now. Straight up, my neck craned to the ceiling, not knowing what happened.

But after that night, I vowed not to be scared of the Realm of Monsters, because surely they would not take me again. Right? I had gotten away, back to my bed. Back to the safety of my house, the house with motion sensor lights, the house with a now triple-locked front door. I am safe here, at least that’s what I think.

Nothing has gone back to normal since last summer. My friends live in fear of what I have told them, and are amazed I don’t share their fear. My parents watch over me much more, even though I turn 12 in 10 days. They are all afraid.  Everyone in Brookdale is afraid.