By: Benjamin He

Jim was scared. He was always scared of going to bed. He was scared of when his mother closed the door at night—when the lights went out and he’d have to wait for sleep to come. He was especially scared of the closet and what caused the creaking inside it. He would always hide under his tiny blue blanket as the closet door would rattle all night long.

Today was different. As the door closed behind his mother, Jim got out of his bed and lifted it his pillow to grab his flashlight he had asked for his birthday. He silently approached the ominous closet and began to wait for the rattling to begin. Somehow, he could sense that today will be the last day he hears the rattling. This gave little Jim a sense of courage to confront it.

Rattle-tat-tat. Rattle-tat-tat. The closet doors began to shake. A surge of courage streamed into his tiny body as he flung the door open and shone light upon what was inside.

“Boo!” screamed an oversized teddy bear.

He was large and looked like he had been sewn together in a hurry. One of his buttoned eyes seemed to have fallen out and there was a bit of cotton sticking out from a hole in his arm.

Jim jumped back and fell on his back in shock as he dropped his flashlight. It rolled across the floor and came to a stop before the teddy bear.

“Oh, apologies. It seems you dropped something,” the teddy bear said in a commentator’s voice and picked up the flashlight to hand to the little boy.

“Thank you,” Jim replied as he took the flashlight and brushed dust from his pants.

“You know, I’ve been knocking on this door for a while to deliver a message and was about to leave when you opened the door!” exclaimed the teddy bear as he jumped in excitement.

“What was the message?” asked Jim curiously.

“You, little one, have been chosen to come to Walawoo Land!”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a place where people can have fun all day! The sun is always up and there are blankets and pillows everywhere. In fact, the ground is one large soft pillow where rivers and oceans are blankets. There is no violence anywhere and everyone is happy!”

“Then why was I invited?” asked Jim with a bit of skepticism.

“Well, you see, Walawoo Land is a land of peace and happiness. We only select people who have the desired traits because if just anyone could come, Walawoo Land would become just like this world. Not everyone can adapt to the peaceful world of Walawoo.”

“Oh. Well, can I go now?”

“Indeed! Just follow me!” exclaimed the teddy bear as he grabbed Jim’s hand and guided him into the closet.

As the doors shut behind the little boy, he noticed a terrifying grin forming on the teddy bear’s mouth as its two large arms began stretching towards him. The closet rattled one last time before falling silent.