Chapter Six: Don't Laugh at Darkness

Lightning flashed outside our garage door window, I screamed. When the lights dimmed again, and Mom came to look at what I was seeing, Shadow Man disappeared. I turned back to look at the car.

"He was here!" I complained to Mom. "Shadow Man was in our car!" I cried. I walked over to our little yellow bug vehicle. I opened the car door. The lights turned on and we both heard the car bell ringing.

Mom poked her head into the front passenger's seat. "Are you sure?" she asked. I didn't know what to believe. "Come on, let's go back inside the house. I think your imagination is getting away with you," Mom complained. 

Mom started to take me back inside the house. She grabbed hold of my hand. And she led me back through the garage door. Mom turned around and closed the garage door to our kitchen. She locked the door.

The kitchen was still a mess. Spills from the milk carton in the refrigerator dripped over the floor. Bloody blotches of hamburger meat spreaded over the kitchen floor. I couldn't let them make us look bad. 

Mom started putting the bloody plastic wrappings from off the floor next to the refrigerator into the overflowing trash can. I started to help Mom. But she stopped me. "I got this, love," Mom said. "I don't want to stress you out. You've got school tomorrow morning. I don't want you to get too exhausted to wake up on time," Mom said.

I gave Mom a hug and I told her I agreed. She knew what was best for me. "I have a spelling bee test in my English class tomorrow morning. I don't want to get a failing grade. So I better go study," I explained. Mom hugged and nodded like she agreed with me.

I took another look around the messy kitchen and sighed. I felt sorry for Mom having to clean up the kitchen all by herself. She worked so hard to make the place feel like home. What could I do to make it better for Mom? I promised myself I would never let the darkness get us shaken up over what was to believe was real and imaginary around here.

I safely entered my bedroom in the attic upstairs. It took me a long time to realize how tired I was. I didn't have the strength or energy to stay up and study for a spelling bee test tomorrow. I walked over to my desk. And started at my spelling bee notebook. I was just going to look over a few words before I went to bed. 

Slowly, I opened the black spiral notebook. I gasped! I saw a bright red X marking all throughout the pages of the notebook with my English teacher's handwriting over the words I was supposed to be learning. "No!" I screamed out loud. "Who did this?" I asked, wanting to know.

My homework for Mrs. Page was totally ruined! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I didn't have much to study. But in my notes everything I've worked hard for…was destroyed. By somebody who put a big red X on my notes to study for the English test I had tomorrow at school. I couldn't believe somebody would come in here and ruin my homework assignments! This was so not fair! I didn't have any brothers or sisters to blame.

I angrily tossed my homework spiral notebook in my trash can underneath my study desk. This was going to be a long night! I wanted to go back downstairs and complain to Mom that somebody broke into our house…and destroyed my homework studies I've worked hard on. 

I started to walk out of my room. I stopped when lightning flashed from outside of my bedroom window. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught something unrecognizable sitting on my brown wooden rocking chair against the wall. Next to my half open closet door, with the lights turned off.

When my eyes focused, and lightning from the thunderstorm brightened my shadowy dark room, the object sitting on my wooden brown rocking chair had vanished! I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. It didn't seem possible!

I realized I was no longer alone in my bedroom! I didn't know what to do here. I tried opening my bedroom door, but it wouldn't open. I tried to unlock the door, but it still wouldn't budge. 

Then, my heart beat in my chest. I gasped and turned my head slowly to the sound of childlike laughter coming from the wooden brown rocking chair next to my closet. It made my blood run cold. I was afraid of what might be there.

"What is after me?" I asked myself out loud. I didn't know anything would be such a threat to my existence. When lightning flashed again, there was a flash of light from the windows. And a small, stuffed clown marionette doll appeared on the rocking chair before me. 

Its lips were ruby red and it slowly spread a smile on its white stuffed face. "Hi!" He greeted me in a whiny, high baby-ish voice. "I'm your new friend, Fabulous!" the shadowy puppet continued.

"I don't believe in having any friends like you," I said, angrily. The little stuffed clown marionette doll laughed. Then, he made a yellow balloon with a smiley face appear in his right hand out of nowhere. 

He handed the yellow balloon out for me to take. "This is for you," Fabulous the friendly stuffed clown marionette doll said. I didn't want to accept his gift. It didn't feel right. Suddenly, the clown's eyes started to turn red. He was getting impatient and waiting for me to take a balloon as a token of his appreciation.

Fabulous let go of the yellow smiley balloon and made it float out toward me. Lightning flashed from the thunderstorm. Before I could reach out to grab the strength of the yellow balloon, it popped and exploded with graffiti everywhere on my blue carpet! 

The little ornery clown doll, Fabulous, tossed his head back and let out wild, uproarious childlike laughter at me. "I scared you! I'm just having fun!" Fabulous said, still laughing like a little kid on steroids. 

My ears were still ringing from the loud popping of the balloon in my face. After my eyes adjusted to the darkness in my room, I realized I must be having a bad dream. Because this felt all too real to be happening.

"What do you want from me?" I asked, the stuffed marionette clown doll. The little balls on his colorful hat jiggled and bounced on his head as the little man laughed. "Mom doesn't want me having company late," I said, not taking my eyes off the animated clown doll.

The happy, overexcited clown ignored me. He continued rocking back and forth in the rocking chair, swaying his arms from side to side. Like he was jamming away to some music I couldn't hear. "If you don't go away now, I'm never going to believe anything you are not real," I said, angrily.

Then, the marionette clown stopped rocking back and forth in the chair. "I just want to be your new friend, Wesley," the high-pitched clown marionette doll explained. "I would never do anything to hurt you. Only want to make-believe with you anything is possible. And open your heart to let you see how alive you can feel. And let your shadow change the way you are meant to be," the little stuffed clown marionette doll said, giggling. He continued rocking back and forth in the rocking chair, laughing and humming a tune I wasn't familiar with.

I wanted to run and walk away from the talking clown doll who was giving me the creeps. I looked at the shadow stuck on the wall. 

I turned away for a brief moment. As Fabulous the talking and laughing clown pointed at my shadow again, I turned back to look again. This time, it was not there! It was invisible and I couldn't understand what happened to it. Fabulous held out a white crystal ball in his hands.

Fabulous giggled and showed my black shadow trapped in the magic crystal ball. Trying to get out of it, I watched as my shadow tried to break free from the glowing ball. "You'll get it back soon. Once I have some fun with it," Fabulous said, shaking the magic crystal ball in his hands.

I couldn't let this happen. Before it gets morning, I must come up with a plan of action to rescue my poor, defenseless monster puppet shadow friend. Supernaturalville no longer needs to go without having a shadow. I was running out of time and patience. How could I prove I could save my shadow buddy from becoming something not worth being? I had to think hard. And fast, too…