The Thing Under the Bed

It started small, a ball
of dust and string. I
fed it crackers, fairy
tales, and lightning
storms. I washed
it with my tears. It
breathed out red
hot fire, it
basked in fights,
the screams,
the punches. It
drank the liquor in
the house and grinned
when Daddy hit
my brother. I
finally saw the
thing that hid
and saw that

it was me.

published in Dark Entries and Entropy