By Harlow Berny

 

When you were a child, you would make your parents check underneath your bed after they had tucked you in at night. This is because you thought that the gentle glow of your night-light was not strong enough to reach underneath, and thus monsters would take refuge there. When you grew up, you threw out your night-light to sleep in the dark, for you no longer believed that monsters hid under your bed. The thing is, those monsters exist no matter if you believe or not. The only difference is that once you do not believe in them, you can no longer see them. You cannot see them crawling out from under your bed. You cannot see them peering at you from the foot of your bed. You cannot see them staring you in the eyes. You cannot see them slipping into your mind, replacing your childhood innocence and youth with stress, sorrow, fear, and regret. You cannot see that the monster under your bed has become the monster in your head….

 

Editor: Peter Kadel