Suzie’s parents told her the monster under her bed
was all in her head, and the boogeyman wasn’t real.
Little did they know later on Suzie would feel,
she would feel emotions no child should have to.
She hid under her desk and laughed with her friends,
teachers shushing, clocks ticking, and alarms blaring.
She clutched Mr.Teddy as it said it wasn’t a false alarm.
She’d never heard those words before,
never heard a slamming door,
never clutched her stuffed bear so tight.
Laughing died down, teachers stopped shushing,
and for a moment, clocks stopped ticking.
A scream, a shout, a cry for help.
Suzie trembled, nothing settled under her mind.
Crayons scattered around the room,
teddies sensing impending doom,
all the while a handle jiggles.
All eyes shut tight, little hands gripping markers,
little cries, little yells, little “this is not a drill”s.
Suzie was confused, no claws, no shadows,
nothing beneath her bed.
She hoped her parents were right,
that it was all in her head.
A loud BANG, a piercing POP.
Suzie yelps, teddy drops.
The children scatter to their feet,
every step unsure and incomplete.
Someone, something slams open the door,
now ALL of the teddies drop to the floor.
Teachers scream, students yelp,
but it\'s both a shout for help.
Breaking through windows, crashing through desks.
Something is risen, but Suzie can’t stop.
She sprints, she races, like never before.
The adrenaline eating at her core.
Hours, days pass, Suzie still feels trapped.
The event made the headline,
it made the 6 o’clock news.
People skip past, as if it were fake,
no one does a double take.
Somewhere, sometime, Suzie is real,
while the world forgets what she can’t unfeel.