Monsters Under the Bed
Connie ran as fast as she could from her house, a backpack full of various items her mother sent her with bouncing against her back. The child skidded to a stop in front of the cottage and sighed in that manner that children do. The sun was just about to set, and the early summer foliage that spread across the large beech tree out front was edged in different shades of gold and pink that were colouring the sky. She paused a moment before she shrieked in excitement, chasing an early firefly around the yard for a few minutes before watching the small insect float out of her grasp and flutter up into the tree branches. Humming happily to herself, Connie skipped up the short walkway and hopped up the stairs. She stubbed the front of her foot on the second to last step and landed face first at Turner’s feet: sprawled across the wooden porch.
“Kid, what the hell are you doin’?”
“Well, I walked down the street from my house and then took a left and then I waited for the light to change to green so that I could cross over the big street with the butcher on it and then I walked onto your street from there and I was so excited because the tree was really pretty and there was a firefly and can we go play with them in the dark later and then it floated away and then I fell over my toe and now you’re here and I missed you so much, Turner.” Connie picked herself up, grinning and causing a smudge of dirt on her chin to become prominent, and immediately launched herself around the older girl’s waist. She burrowed her face into Turner’s stomach and took a deep breath; the smell of engine grease and homemade bread isn’t expected to be a good combination, but for Connie, it was Turner and Turner was it.
“Hey. Brat. If you want’a eat this grub any time soon, you’ll unlatch yourself from my crotch.”
Connie rolled her eyes at Turner and snuggled in a little longer. Turner looked down at her protégée and patted her blonde curls; deep hazel eyes met bright blue ones looking up in adoration.
“C’mon, babe. I spent time making this mess, so you better like it.”
“Mommy sent me with pie, too. It’s in my bag...” She had to look around for a minute before finding her rucksack squeezed between two rungs of the porch railing, several feet away. Turner accepted the package and motioned the girl in while examining the bag to see whether anything would drip out of the bottom. She opened the top and noticed that Connie’s mother had foreseen an accident or two and carefully packaged the dessert in a container that should be indestructible, and her tanned foot kicked the door closed behind her. The child had already made herself at home in the kitchen, and Turner set the pie and other necessities onto the counter, grabbing Connie’s hand and pulling it away from touching the boiling pot without the need to look over.
“Patience.”
“But, Turneeeeeeeeeeeeer.”
“...”
“Fine.” Pout strongly displayed on her features, Connie stuck out her tongue behind Turner’s back and plopped onto the chair forcefully. She crossed her arms in a manner that was distinctly below her maturity and didn’t say ‘thank you’ when her older friend served her. Turner smirked at Connie’s stormy expression.
“Plannin’ on eattin’, or just sittin’ there and throwing a shitfit?” She took a big bite of her spaghetti, closed her eyes, and grinned. “It’s so ********’ fantastic, Conn.”
Giving the older girl one last look, the younger girl took up her fork and speared a large portion of pasta, which she immediately put into her mouth. Having spattered the sauce all down her front, Connie noisily slurped the spaghetti and chewed until she had finished the obscene amount she had attempted and succeeded. Turner watched the whole scene with bemusement, at least until a speck of marinara sauce managed to hit her cheek. She lowered her eyes and wiped away the speck, raising a brow in annoyance.
“Eat your damn pasta and stap makin’ a mess. There’s no need for a ********’ attitude, miss.”
Sufficiently calmed down, Connie giggled for a moment and wiped her own face. “So, did you have a lot of girlfriends at university? Mommy said you didn’t like boys and I don’t if you don’t because I wanna be just like you but do girls get married and have babies and jobs and houses and dogs and big backyards, too?”
Turner nearly choked on her food. “Well, I had a girlfrien’ at school. Not multiples. One is more than enough. ‘Er name was Lil’ an’—”
“—Did you love her was she pretty did you guys have scecks?”
“Sex, an’ yeah. We did tha’ a lot. And sure, I loved ‘er inna’ way. In th’ end, we decided it was best to let it break off. She liked boys, too, kiddo’.”
“You can like girls and boys?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Can we chase fireflies now?”
Turner reached behind her and took a clean, glass jar from the counter. She slid it across the table where Connie reached and grabbed it with both hands. “Cool!” The young girl jumped up from her seat and her chair skidded back across the hardwood floor as she ran out the front door and let the screen slam behind her. Shaking her head, Turner collected their plates and set to do the washing up. She kept an eye on the child and the other on what she was doing. She finished quickly: tan brown hands easily scrubbing the dishes and pot. Turner glanced outside to see Connie jumping around and making various sounds of excitement and disappointment as she ran around after the lightening bugs. Pie and ice cream settled into a bowl, she called Connie back in.
“Sit down and eat y’er pie. And show me these bugs you’ve been terrorizing.”
Connie beamed up at Turner and proudly handed off her jar of bugs. A small twig and some leaves and grass had been added inside, and three or four separate bugs were glowing sporadically.
“Why do their butts light up?” She asked around a mouthful of strawberry pie.
“Ye’ know how gay guys ‘ave tops an’ bottoms? These are the bottoms, flashin’ their arses around so they c’n bogey down, la’er.”
“Aweeesome.”
“Mmhmm. Ye’ done?” Turner collected the empty plate and quickly washed and rinsed it. She nodded towards Connie and followed at a much more languid pace after the racing child. The older girl sat down on the porch steps and watched as Connie finished her play and finally released her ‘gay butt bugs,’ as she was now calling them. The blonde set the jar next to Turner’s feet and snuggled into her side, head resting in the other’s lap. Both gazed up into the night sky, counting stars and identifying constellations quietly. Turner ran her hands through the child’s hair, almost like one would pet a cat: hardly conscious of the action. Connie gurgled quietly and unknowingly cuddled closer, causing Turner to look down and assess the situation. She sighed and slowly unwrapped the girl from around her before she lifted Connie up into her arms, taking the child into the bedroom. Awakening from the motion, her bright blue eyes fluttered open and took a moment to take in the new setting.
“You still have the quilt...?”
“Sure I do. Why wou’n’t I? Go wash up and then I’ll tell you yer’ dumb story before tuckin’ ye’ inta’ bed.”
Happily trotting off, Turner pulled the sheets out from under the mattress so the brat could sleep more comfortably through the night. While she had laid out a sheet for the couch, she doubted she would get away with sleeping out there; Connie had an unforgivable case of night terrors, which were only abated with some sort of contact. Her mother had managed to find a stuffed animal that handled the situation most nights, but it was still a touch and go situation. Changing into a more comfortable set of sleeping clothes, Turner wandered back into the front of the house and turned off the lights, before settling in on the left side of the bed. Connie launched herself onto the bed and laughed quietly before crawling around and getting in under the covers and leaning in against Turner.
“Tell me the story about how you killed the Bandersnatch again, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.”
“...Tha’ was two days ago. Can’t ye’ rem’mber th’ last time I told it?”
“I wanna have you tell it though.”
“I suppose. Well, Tanith had alre’y clawed through m’ bandages and bein’ the Queen’s li’le Goody-Two-Shoes, had the three headed beast onna’ leash. Stupidly, she aimed for m’ and her lov’ly claws sliced through th’ restraints. Aether was doin’ who know what, and you were all passed out. Then, m’ arm got th’ bett’r of m’, and next thin’ I know, I got this badass sword to swing around in m’ right hand. So. Battle naturally ensues, as you saw, and the ********’ dragon gave a good fi’ht. Singed m’ leg an’ foot a bit, but nothin’ bad. Quick footwork. So, I stab th’ dumb animal inna’ should’r, and let him wail on fora’ momen’ or two, and beheaded the closer head. Put some fi’ht back inta’ th’ monster, and stayed far enough away for it t’ jus’ bleed out. Then Aether managed t’ warp Tanith an’ th’ Bandersnatch somewhere else, of course after ‘t was needed. We survived, you got us out of ********’ Wonderland, and that is th’ end.”
Small smile on her face, Connie silently cuddled into Turner and pulled on her hand. The older girl sighed internally and crept in as well, knowing something was a bit fishy that Connie had agreed to go to bed without a peep. Waiting a few moments, Turner readjusted herself against the curled child and paused. She reached over, turned off the light, and glanced over at the blonde in her bed.
She woke up to the screams. Turner winced and immediately wrapped herself around Connie, who was shaking, as well. Shushing the girl, Turner looked around the room and realized that her foot was wrapped around the covers in some way that it felt as if a hand or paw was holding her tightly.
“Mommy lied. There are monsters under the bed.”
“...Aw, ********. We just got ou’ ‘f ********’ Ni’htmare Central.”
“Kid, what the hell are you doin’?”
“Well, I walked down the street from my house and then took a left and then I waited for the light to change to green so that I could cross over the big street with the butcher on it and then I walked onto your street from there and I was so excited because the tree was really pretty and there was a firefly and can we go play with them in the dark later and then it floated away and then I fell over my toe and now you’re here and I missed you so much, Turner.” Connie picked herself up, grinning and causing a smudge of dirt on her chin to become prominent, and immediately launched herself around the older girl’s waist. She burrowed her face into Turner’s stomach and took a deep breath; the smell of engine grease and homemade bread isn’t expected to be a good combination, but for Connie, it was Turner and Turner was it.
“Hey. Brat. If you want’a eat this grub any time soon, you’ll unlatch yourself from my crotch.”
Connie rolled her eyes at Turner and snuggled in a little longer. Turner looked down at her protégée and patted her blonde curls; deep hazel eyes met bright blue ones looking up in adoration.
“C’mon, babe. I spent time making this mess, so you better like it.”
“Mommy sent me with pie, too. It’s in my bag...” She had to look around for a minute before finding her rucksack squeezed between two rungs of the porch railing, several feet away. Turner accepted the package and motioned the girl in while examining the bag to see whether anything would drip out of the bottom. She opened the top and noticed that Connie’s mother had foreseen an accident or two and carefully packaged the dessert in a container that should be indestructible, and her tanned foot kicked the door closed behind her. The child had already made herself at home in the kitchen, and Turner set the pie and other necessities onto the counter, grabbing Connie’s hand and pulling it away from touching the boiling pot without the need to look over.
“Patience.”
“But, Turneeeeeeeeeeeeer.”
“...”
“Fine.” Pout strongly displayed on her features, Connie stuck out her tongue behind Turner’s back and plopped onto the chair forcefully. She crossed her arms in a manner that was distinctly below her maturity and didn’t say ‘thank you’ when her older friend served her. Turner smirked at Connie’s stormy expression.
“Plannin’ on eattin’, or just sittin’ there and throwing a shitfit?” She took a big bite of her spaghetti, closed her eyes, and grinned. “It’s so ********’ fantastic, Conn.”
Giving the older girl one last look, the younger girl took up her fork and speared a large portion of pasta, which she immediately put into her mouth. Having spattered the sauce all down her front, Connie noisily slurped the spaghetti and chewed until she had finished the obscene amount she had attempted and succeeded. Turner watched the whole scene with bemusement, at least until a speck of marinara sauce managed to hit her cheek. She lowered her eyes and wiped away the speck, raising a brow in annoyance.
“Eat your damn pasta and stap makin’ a mess. There’s no need for a ********’ attitude, miss.”
Sufficiently calmed down, Connie giggled for a moment and wiped her own face. “So, did you have a lot of girlfriends at university? Mommy said you didn’t like boys and I don’t if you don’t because I wanna be just like you but do girls get married and have babies and jobs and houses and dogs and big backyards, too?”
Turner nearly choked on her food. “Well, I had a girlfrien’ at school. Not multiples. One is more than enough. ‘Er name was Lil’ an’—”
“—Did you love her was she pretty did you guys have scecks?”
“Sex, an’ yeah. We did tha’ a lot. And sure, I loved ‘er inna’ way. In th’ end, we decided it was best to let it break off. She liked boys, too, kiddo’.”
“You can like girls and boys?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Can we chase fireflies now?”
Turner reached behind her and took a clean, glass jar from the counter. She slid it across the table where Connie reached and grabbed it with both hands. “Cool!” The young girl jumped up from her seat and her chair skidded back across the hardwood floor as she ran out the front door and let the screen slam behind her. Shaking her head, Turner collected their plates and set to do the washing up. She kept an eye on the child and the other on what she was doing. She finished quickly: tan brown hands easily scrubbing the dishes and pot. Turner glanced outside to see Connie jumping around and making various sounds of excitement and disappointment as she ran around after the lightening bugs. Pie and ice cream settled into a bowl, she called Connie back in.
“Sit down and eat y’er pie. And show me these bugs you’ve been terrorizing.”
Connie beamed up at Turner and proudly handed off her jar of bugs. A small twig and some leaves and grass had been added inside, and three or four separate bugs were glowing sporadically.
“Why do their butts light up?” She asked around a mouthful of strawberry pie.
“Ye’ know how gay guys ‘ave tops an’ bottoms? These are the bottoms, flashin’ their arses around so they c’n bogey down, la’er.”
“Aweeesome.”
“Mmhmm. Ye’ done?” Turner collected the empty plate and quickly washed and rinsed it. She nodded towards Connie and followed at a much more languid pace after the racing child. The older girl sat down on the porch steps and watched as Connie finished her play and finally released her ‘gay butt bugs,’ as she was now calling them. The blonde set the jar next to Turner’s feet and snuggled into her side, head resting in the other’s lap. Both gazed up into the night sky, counting stars and identifying constellations quietly. Turner ran her hands through the child’s hair, almost like one would pet a cat: hardly conscious of the action. Connie gurgled quietly and unknowingly cuddled closer, causing Turner to look down and assess the situation. She sighed and slowly unwrapped the girl from around her before she lifted Connie up into her arms, taking the child into the bedroom. Awakening from the motion, her bright blue eyes fluttered open and took a moment to take in the new setting.
“You still have the quilt...?”
“Sure I do. Why wou’n’t I? Go wash up and then I’ll tell you yer’ dumb story before tuckin’ ye’ inta’ bed.”
Happily trotting off, Turner pulled the sheets out from under the mattress so the brat could sleep more comfortably through the night. While she had laid out a sheet for the couch, she doubted she would get away with sleeping out there; Connie had an unforgivable case of night terrors, which were only abated with some sort of contact. Her mother had managed to find a stuffed animal that handled the situation most nights, but it was still a touch and go situation. Changing into a more comfortable set of sleeping clothes, Turner wandered back into the front of the house and turned off the lights, before settling in on the left side of the bed. Connie launched herself onto the bed and laughed quietly before crawling around and getting in under the covers and leaning in against Turner.
“Tell me the story about how you killed the Bandersnatch again, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.”
“...Tha’ was two days ago. Can’t ye’ rem’mber th’ last time I told it?”
“I wanna have you tell it though.”
“I suppose. Well, Tanith had alre’y clawed through m’ bandages and bein’ the Queen’s li’le Goody-Two-Shoes, had the three headed beast onna’ leash. Stupidly, she aimed for m’ and her lov’ly claws sliced through th’ restraints. Aether was doin’ who know what, and you were all passed out. Then, m’ arm got th’ bett’r of m’, and next thin’ I know, I got this badass sword to swing around in m’ right hand. So. Battle naturally ensues, as you saw, and the ********’ dragon gave a good fi’ht. Singed m’ leg an’ foot a bit, but nothin’ bad. Quick footwork. So, I stab th’ dumb animal inna’ should’r, and let him wail on fora’ momen’ or two, and beheaded the closer head. Put some fi’ht back inta’ th’ monster, and stayed far enough away for it t’ jus’ bleed out. Then Aether managed t’ warp Tanith an’ th’ Bandersnatch somewhere else, of course after ‘t was needed. We survived, you got us out of ********’ Wonderland, and that is th’ end.”
Small smile on her face, Connie silently cuddled into Turner and pulled on her hand. The older girl sighed internally and crept in as well, knowing something was a bit fishy that Connie had agreed to go to bed without a peep. Waiting a few moments, Turner readjusted herself against the curled child and paused. She reached over, turned off the light, and glanced over at the blonde in her bed.
She woke up to the screams. Turner winced and immediately wrapped herself around Connie, who was shaking, as well. Shushing the girl, Turner looked around the room and realized that her foot was wrapped around the covers in some way that it felt as if a hand or paw was holding her tightly.
“Mommy lied. There are monsters under the bed.”
“...Aw, ********. We just got ou’ ‘f ********’ Ni’htmare Central.”
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