Amy's Secret
Story by JerriLynn Toms
Images by Amanda Penrose
Amy
had a secret. She had found it at recess under the big slide. It
looked like the grass clippings her dad sometimes left behind after
he mowed the yard. It was wrapped in a tiny plastic bag, sort of
like the ones Mom put in her lunch box only much smaller. Safe in
her bedroom that night, she held the bag in her hand. She knew she
was supposed to "just say no". That's what everybody said
she should do but she was curious.
Amy tucked the little bag under her pillow and slid down under the warm blanket. It would be safe there. She would decide what to do with it tomorrow, she thought, already drifting off to sleep.
She floated into Dreamland. She saw herself sitting on the grass at recess with her best friend, Terry.
"I've got a secret. Wanna see it?" Amy asked her friend.
"Yeah!" said Terry.
Amy stuck her hand into her pocket and felt the baggy there. Wrapping
her fingers around it, she tried to pull it from her pocket. Now
that was odd. It felt too big to come out. She pulled harder, holding
her pants leg with her other hand. Suddenly, her hand sprang free.
Terry
scrambled backward, terrified as she watched Amy's hand unfold.
As her fingers opened, a purplish-black cloud rose from Amy's palm.
It grew and grew until it covered the sky, making the sunshine disappear.
"Amy, run!" yelled Terry as she jumped to her feet.
"I ... I can't," Amy stuttered, looking wide-eyed at the growing cloud. It was shifting and boiling, like it was ... alive!
Terry ran for the doors, screaming and ducking her had as she felt something whoosh past her face. She looked over her shoulder to see Amy still standing there, unable to move. Then she looked up at the cloud and her heart almost stopped. It was not a cloud any more. It was a ... a ... MONSTER! A huge, ugly green monster with slime dripping from its open mouth. Its mouth was full of sharp yellow teeth. And it looked very hungry!
Terry shouted at Amy to get away from it again. But Amy only looked back at Terry, tears streaming down her chubby pink cheeks. When Terry looked back up again, the monster wasn't a monster had changed. His eyes looked like he had been crying or something. It grinned at Amy, making her scream in fear. His tongue was all black and sticky now but the teeth were the same yellow fangs.
Amy
twisted and rolled in her bed. She thrashed around so much that
the blanket became tangled around her, pulling tighter and tighter.
The monster had his hairy tattooed arms wrapped around Amy as Terry
watched, shivering with fright. He was gonna eat her! Terry had
to do something. She thought and thought and suddenly it came to
her. Like a bolt of lightning from the sky, Terry knew what Amy
had to do.
"Amy, remember what Miss White said. Remember what the policeman said. JUST SAY NO! Say no, Amy! Say it loud," Terry yelled into the wind.
Amy looked at her, not recognizing her best friend. She could see her lips moving but the words didn't make it to her. What was she saying? Amy was sooooo tired. She laid her head back and closed her eyes. This was it, she thought. I'll never get a chance to tell Mommy that I'm sorry for not listening to her. I'll never get to run and jump into Daddy's arms when he gets home from work anymore. I'll never get to play "house" with Terry again, she cried. Terry ... where was Terry? Wasn't she here with me? Frantically, Amy searched for her friend. The roar of the wind in her ears died down a little as her eyes found Terry. She could hear a buzzing, like a swarm of honeybees in the distance, coming closer ... closer ... closer. She strained to make out the sound, concentrating very hard.
" ... Say ... Amy! Remember ... policeman said. Just say ... "
"NO!" Amy finished in a loud voice. "NO! Get away! I don't want you," she pointed at the monster as she yelled.
With a start, Amy sat up in her bed, her heart beating like an Indian tom-tom. She held her knees up to her chest and cried great, gulping sobs. Her mother appeared by her bedside, as if by magic.
"Amy, honey, what is it? What's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?" her mother asked as she stroked Amy's hair.
"Uh
huh," she sniffled. Just the sight of her mother made her feel
better. Amy slid her hand under her pillow and pulled the baggy
out from under it. "I found this at school today, Mommy. I'm
sorry I didn't tell Miss White. And I'm sorry I didn't listen to
you at dinner too. I love you and Daddy. I don't want to never see
you again. And I don't want to have yellow teeth and a black tongue
... . And ... and ... ." she began to cry harder.
Her mother gently pulled her into her arms and hugged her tightly.
"Shhh now, baby. It's okay. You did well! We'll take care of this in the morning," her mother soothed her.
"You know what, Mommy?"
"What, honey?" her mother asked.
"Terry was there too ... in my dream. She helped me remember what to do," Amy wiped her tears with her arm.
"And what was that?" her mother asked.
"Just say NO," Amy stated proudly. "Just say NO!"
The End