by Sanguinary Red (sanguinary_515 @ hotmail.com)
The night wasn’t particularly stormy or dark. However, young Merry had easily remedied that by pulling the curtains shut and leaving only a single candle to light the room.
He crouched on the sturdy headboard, casting a Gollum-like shadow onto the wall behind him that quivered with the movement of the candle’s flame. The other children were gathered around him in a semi-circle. With hands clutched together, they watched Merry weave his horror story piece by piece.
“He waits until night falls and then creeps thought the Shire. The Boggity-monster sneaks into your room and hides in the shadows. It hides under your bed or in your closet, waiting for a plump young child to walk too close. He’ll reach out with long, bony fingers…” He wiggled his hands, casting impossibly long shadow-fingers against the wall. Tolman clutched his stuffed bear to his chest, staring up at Merry with huge eyes. Daisy stroked his hair, trying to calm the young boy but she too was caught up in Merry’s story.
“And when he grabs your ankle, he’ll squeeze tight and never let go. And when you scream for help, he’ll grab you with his other hand and pull you under the bed.” Merry crawled back and forth across the headboard, barely managing to keep his balance on the thin wooden ledge. “And when mum and dad come to wake you in the morning, all they’ll find… are… your…” He curled up tighter, voice dropping to a breathless whisper.
The children leaned in to hear Merry.
“BONES!” He suddenly shouted, jumping off the ledge and landing in the circle. The children screamed in shock and fright. Merry collapsed on his side, giggling, and he was quickly pummeled with pillows and toys and books. Laughing, everyone began to breathe easy again.
Everyone except for Tolman, who was wailing wordlessly with fright. Ruby rocked him back and forth, trying to hush her youngest brother while Daisy glared at Merry. “That wasn’t funny at all!” she shouted.
Rosie and Sam suddenly burst into the room, “What’s going on?”
“Uh-oh.” Merry looked up at his father, “Um… nothing?”
“Merry was tellin’ us scary stories and scared us all and then Tommy wouldn’t stop crying.” Ruby pointed at her brother who was looking sheepish.
Rosie walked over to the bed and picked up Tolman. The boy quieted down, but was still sniffling. “You know better than to tell stories like that to the little ones.”
“They aren’t stories!” Merry looked almost shocked, “Freddie swears they’re true! He says that one of them got his little sister!”
“You mean Abigail?”
Merry nodded, “He says he saw it grab her in the middle of the night when she got out of bed to get a glass of water!”
“Which explains why I saw her staying at her grandparent’s house a day ago?” Rosie countered.
“But Freddie said…”
“If Freddie told you that running naked across the top of Bagshot Row would make you a foot taller, would you believe him?” Sam asked, his arms crossed.
Merry mumbled an answer that was most likely a no. “Well, then, don’t go believing any of those tall tales he’s telling. Now I’m sure it’s time for all of you to get to bed.” Sam said. Rosie set the proper example and left the room to put Tom down for the night.
The children stood anxiously in the room, looking at one another. Finally, Ruby stepped forward, “Dad?”
“Yes, Ruby?”
“Could you check the closets… just to make sure?”
Sam sighed and nodded yes. He took the entire group though every room in Bag End, checking under beds and inside closets as they were pointed out by the children. When they were finally satisfied that there weren’t any Boggity-monsters waiting for them, they went to bed.
After tucking everyone in (and double checking closets for each child), Sam finally managed to retreat back to the kitchen where Rosie was waiting. She handed him a cup of tea with a wry smile. Sam sat down with a sigh and shook his head, “I don’t know where Merry-lad gets those stories.”
“The other boys must be telling him things. It’s only normal. We used to tell each other stories like that when we were children too.”
“But the Boggity-monster? Whatever happened to the old monsters like the Tommyknocker or the Bone Man?”
“I think every generation has their own monsters.”
Sam sniffed his tea, “Yeah, but a monster that hides under beds and in closets?”
The door opened. Two faces peeped in, eyes glowing a dull red. The smaller one’s face was covered in blood. Sam smiled at them. “There you are! You were late getting back.”
Sammie ran into the room and jumped up on Rosie’s lap, “I killed a boar! All by myself!”
“You did?!” Rosie looked at Frodo.
He nodded, “I was following a couple of quails when I heard Sammie call for help. By the time I got there, he had already brought it down and took out its throat.”
Sammie grinned, “I didn’t break a fang or anything!”
“I can see you didn’t wash your face either.” Rosie grabbed a dishcloth and began to wipe the blood off of Sammie’s face. He squirmed uncomfortably.
“It was a good hunt.” Frodo sat down beside Sam, his eyes slowly reverting back to their normal blue, “We won’t need to drink again for a few days.”
“That’s good.” Rosie finished Sammie’s face and let him off her lap, “I know someone who should be heading off to bed.”
“Can I tell Daisy about my boar?”
“You might want to knock on her door before going in. Everyone’s a bit jumpy from what Merry did.”
Concern washed over Frodo’s features, “What happened? Is everyone all right?”
Sam snorted, “We’re fine. Merry got it in his head to tell scary stories about the Boggity-monster.”
“The Boggity-monster?” Frodo chucked, “It doesn’t sound half-frightening.”
Sammie looked at his parents, “Can I go?”
“Yes, but be quiet. I don’t want to have to check the closets again.” Sam called after Sammie as he went running down the hall.
“Closets?” Frodo looked torn between disbelief and laughing.
“And under the beds.”
Frodo gave into laughter, “What kind of a monster would hide under beds and in closets?”
Rosie smiled, “A Boggity-monster of course.”
“Next time they get so worked up, tell them that no evil creature would dare show its face around here. Not unless it wanted to end up as a midnight snack.” He smiled, flashing sharp teeth.
“I knew having monsters for kin would come in useful.” Rosie quipped and laughter echoed around the kitchen again.
~
Pretty Good Year