Eleven year-old Kerry Maguire knows that there is something under her bed. But when she tries to find out exactly what that thing is, she is taken to a land of monsters and horror. Helpless and afraid, she turns to the friendly witch Mrs. Macabre for safety. But is her magic strong enough to fight off the things that have haunted Kerry's nightmares or is the little girl going to have to find the strength within herself to save them?
A short story starring Mrs. Macabre from the novel, MRS. MACABRE. Now available in Ebook and paperback.
Kerry Maguire had a secret. Now, it is fairly common for people to have secrets. Especially if you are eleven. Though it may be uncomfortable for your parents, having secrets is an essential part of childhood. Whether it be peeking at an un- wrapped present, stealing something that one shouldn’t have, or climbing a tree that an adult told you specifically not to, you have kept a secret at one point in time in your life. And you may have more when you grow up. Kerry wasn’t entirely someone who kept secrets because she was not one to look for secrets to keep. She was not an adventurous girl by nature. In fact, she was known for being quite scared of most things. If a bee were to fly near her, she would quickly dodge out of the way as if it were on a mission to attack her specifically. She would never jump off of the diving board at a pool because she was afraid of heights, and the thought of hitting her head at the bottom was too terrible a thing for her to consider. She would even be cautious of taking two pain pills instead of one, just in case an overdose were to oc- cur. Kerry didn’t have many secrets, which made this secret especially large. It was a secret that had kept her up at night for weeks now. A secret that she would not dare tell her friends or teachers about. A secret too terrifying to say in pleasant company: Kerry Maguire knew that there was something under her bed.
You may be under the impression that she was mistaken. You may have heard that it is highly unlikely that there was something under her bed. You might have even conducted your own investigation and looked under your own bed to only find a box filled with old toys or the occasional dust bunny. But Kerry didn’t think that there was something under her bed, she knew that there was something under her bed. It first began on a Friday. She had turned out the light and rested her head against her pillow when she heard a strange, low groaning sound. At first she had thought it might have been her house, for her walls would creak and her roof would rumble from the running of squirrels from time to time. But she soon realized that this was not the typical groaning that she was accustomed to. No, this groaning sounded organic, almost animal-like in its nature. It reminded her of when one of her neighbors’ mean dog would growl at her from next door. A growl that started out low and quiet, a growl of warning. It was a sound that she did not take lightly.
She shifted to her side, hoping that it was just the mattress being fussy. But the growling continued. She held her stomach, thinking that perhaps it was something she had eaten. But it did not rumble. She quickly grabbed her pillow and folded it around her head, covering her ears. But even through the muffled fabric of the cushion, she could still hear it in a low steady drone. Kerry took off the pillow and looked around the room, unsure of what to do. She had tried every resource that she had at her disposal and nothing worked. It seemed that the best course of action was to wake her parents.Upset with her as they may be, they would soon realize that getting them up at this hour would be worth taking care of whatever lurked underneath her bed.
