Delilah and the Boogie Man It was a dark and stormy night. The rain was falling hard that night, blowing in the wind and washing across the side of the house. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed. Delilah hated stormy nights. She was afraid of the lightning and the loud bangs of the thunder. She sat on the couch, watching TV. She had her blue dress with white polka dots on, and her dark brown hair was up in pigtails. She was watching her favorite show, trying to forget about the crashing noises outside. “Delilah, time for bed,” said Delilah’s dad. “You’ve got school tomorrow, young lady.” “But, Daddy, I’m not tired,” Delilah protested. Her dad leaned over the back of the couch and looked down at her, smiling. “Well, I know you don’t feel tired, but you had a long day and now it’s time to get some sleep.” Delilah folded her arms and said “Humph.” Just then, lightning flashed brightly through the window, and the thunder crashed through the house, shaking everything. The TV flickered, and the lights dimmed for a moment. The boom of the thunder scared Delilah, and she let out a little yelp. “Oh, Daddy,” she said, “I don’t want to go to bed. It’s scary!” Delilah’s dad rubbed her back and said, “I know, but you have to get some sleep. Go get your teeth brushed and put your pajamas on.” “Oh, all right,” Delilah whined. Delilah took as long as she could to brush her teeth. She even made sure to brush everything twice. Even so, she was done soon and had to get her pajamas on. She walked to her bedroom and pushed the door open. It was dark in there. She reached in and flipped the light switch on. “Whew,” she sighed, looking around her room hesitantly. She walked slowly to her dresser, trying to take as long as she could. She opened the drawer and pulled out the pink pajamas with the feet. It did not take long to get into her pajamas, and soon Delilah was all ready for bed. Her dad walked into the room. “Okay, honey. Jump into bed,” he said. Delilah walked to the bed, grumpy. She made sure to put a big frown on her face as she crawled under the covers. Delilah’s dad knelt beside the bed. He brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. Delilah frowned even more and grumbled, “I don’t want to go to bed. It’s scary.” “I know, but you’ll be asleep soon enough. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I promise.” “What if a werewolf is out tonight, and he comes to get me?” “Werewolves aren’t real, Delilah,” said her dad. “What if lightning strikes the house?” “Well, this house has a lightning rod. The lightning would just go through the rod and into the ground. We would be just fine.” “But, Daddy,” whined Delilah. “Delilah, you have to go to bed. Just close your eyes and go to sleep, and before you know it the sun will be up.” Delilah tried to frown as hard as she could. Her dad leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, baby girl. I’ll see you in the morning.” “Goodnight, Daddy,” said Delilah. Delilah’s dad stood up and turned off the light. He pulled the bedroom door almost all the way shut, then walked away. The rain was pattering against the window, getting heavier, then lighter, and back and forth. Lightning flashed in the distance, and a few seconds later the thunder rumbled. Delilah looked around the room, pulling her covers up just below her eyes. A sliver of light from the hallway cut across the room, setting off the shadows all around. Things around the room, now dark and shadowy, looked like they could be anything, sitting there quietly in the dark. In one corner, Delilah thought she saw something move. She looked harder and realized it was just her clothes. In another corner, Delilah was sure she could see two eyes looking back at her. She looked closer and realized it was the glass eyes of her doll reflecting the hallway light. She looked at the closet door and realized that it wasn’t closed all the way. She hated it when the closet was open at night. It was dark in there, and anything could be inside. As she looked closely at the door, she thought she saw it move. She looked closer, pulling the covers up just a little bit more. The closet door creaked. It was opening! Delilah gasped. She wanted to call her dad, but she could barely speak at all. Then a green hand reached around the edge of the door and pushed it open. A pair of yellow eyes peered out into the room, and then stopped, looking right at Delilah. Delilah pulled the covers over her head and curled up. She heard the door open more and the breathing of the monster as it made its way to her. Then it was quiet for a moment. Delilah slowly pulled back the covers, looking into the room. There, standing beside her, was the monster. Lightning flashed through the window, illuminating the monster’s green, wart-covered flesh. He was short and stout. His eyes were yellow, and two purple horns jutted from his forehead. Delilah looked at his eyes, listening to the sound of his breathing. “Hello,” said the monster, smiling. His teeth were jagged and sharp, sticking out of his smile in all different directions. “Are you…going to…eat me?” Delilah could barely speak at all. The monster snorted a bit, laughing to himself. “No,” he said, still grinning. “Are you…going to mash up my bones?” “No,” he said. “Are you here to take me somewhere scary?” “No,” he said. “Well, are you going to hurt me?” “No,” he said, “but I thought maybe you’d like to play.” Delilah was bewildered and confused. She raised her eyebrow and looked back at the monster, perplexed. “You want to play?” “Yes,” he said. “I was just a little afraid and thought maybe we could play together.” “But you’re a monster.” The monster smiled bigger. He did a little dance and turned in a circle, then said, “Well, yes. I’m the Boogie Man, you see.” “You’re the Boogie Man?” “My friends just call me Mr. Boogie.” “You’re the Boogie Man, and you just want to play?” “Yes. It’s very lonely in there,” he said, gesturing to the closet. “And it’s so rainy and thundery tonight. It’s scary.” “But you’re the Boogie Man. You’re not supposed to be scared.” Mr. Boogie put his hands behind his back and looked down at the floor sheepishly. “I know. But I really hate lightning and thunder. And it’s just that it’s hard to find anyone to play with me. Everyone is too scared.” Delilah sat up and let her covers down. “Well, you are a monster.” “I know,” said Mr. Boogie. “I can’t help it.” Delilah smiled. “Well, I would love to play.” Mr. Boogie’s face lit up and his eyes shone with glee. “Wonderful!” he said. Mr. Boogie turned and walked towards the closet. “Where are you going?” asked Delilah. Mr. Boogie stopped and turned around. He pointed at the closet. “To go play,” he said. “In the closet?” asked Delilah. “Yes,” he said. “But there’s not very much room in there,” argued Delilah. “Oh, but there is,” said Mr. Boogie. “My world is very big.” “You have a world in the closet?” asked Delilah. “I sure do,” said Mr. Boogie, delightedly. “Well, let’s check it out!” said Delilah, throwing off her covers. Mr. Boogie flung the closet door open and jumped inside. Delilah walked over and looked inside. There, in the middle of the closet floor, was a big red slide going down into Mr. Boogie’s world. Delilah looked down, trying to see where it went. Just then, Mr. Boogie popped his head up. “Are you coming?” he asked. “I’m not sure,” said Delilah. “I can’t see where it goes.” She sat down and put her legs onto the slide. Then she slowly pushed herself forward until “whoosh,” she was flying down the slide. Mr. Boogie’s world was bright and colorful. The sky rose above Delilah as she flew down the slide. She sped into a cloud, the fluffy whiteness enveloping her. Then, “poof,” she emerged from the cloud and saw the world below. The slide went down to a giant playground. There were all sorts of trees with different colored leaves, from red to purple to green and blue. A castle stood in the distance, positioned just beneath a sparkling rainbow. Below her on the slide was Mr. Boogie, sliding just as fast as she was. Delilah noticed how fast she was going. “How do we stop?” she yelled. “There are bubbles at the bottom!” yelled Mr. Boogie. “You’ll see!” Delilah and Mr. Boogie flew down the slide, high in the sky, and then down into the trees, until “whomp,” they landed in a giant pool of bubbles. The bubbles felt like little warm kisses as Delilah fell into them. Delilah could not see anything as she was covered in the bubbles. Then Mr. Boogie’s hand took hers ever so gently and pulled her out. There they stood, the playground in front of them, the giant red slide behind them, bubbles dancing merrily through the air. Mr. Boogie led Delilah running to the playground. “Let’s climb!” he said. Delilah and Mr. Boogie played for hours. They played all over the playground, climbing the jungle gym, sliding down all of the different slides, and jumping and running all over the place. They played hide and seek in the colorful trees, then tag, then every other game they could think of. Finally, Delilah felt completely exhausted. She lay down in a field of the softest grass she had ever felt, breathing hard and laughing as Mr. Boogie plopped down beside her. All of the running and playing had made them both tired. “My goodness,” said Delilah. “I’m so tired now.” “I know,” said Mr. Boogie. “I am, too.” Delilah felt sleepy. Her eyelids were heavy, and she slowly closed her eyes. Soon, she was fast asleep. Time passed, and Delilah finally woke up. She opened her eyes and looked around. She was in her bed, all wrapped up in her covers, warm and cozy. Mr. Boogie was nowhere to be found, and the closet door was closed. Meanwhile, the storm had passed and the sun was shining on the curtains covering the bedroom window. Delilah pushed off her covers and slid out of bed, yawning and stretching after a good night’s sleep. She shuffled to the closet and opened the door, expecting to see the big red slide in the floor. There was nothing in the closet but clothes and toys. The floor was just as it was supposed to be. Delilah scratched her head and shrugged. It must have been a dream, she thought. She turned around and started to walk away. “Psst!” The sound came from behind her. Delilah turned around to see what had made the sound. There, peeking up through the floor of the closet, was Mr. Boogie. Delilah jumped with glee and ran over, kneeling. “You are real!” she exclaimed. “Yes,” said Mr. Boogie. “Of course I am.” Delilah smiled and asked, “Are we going to go play again?” Mr. Boogie smiled, his big yellow eyes bright and happy. “Maybe one day,” he said. Mr. Boogie gave his big, toothy grin and disappeared down the slide. The hole closed up, and the floor was, again, just a floor. From then on, Delilah was always happy to go to bed. Every night, she and Mr. Boogie played and went on adventures in his world. She stopped being afraid of the dark, and Mr. Boogie finally had someone to play with. The End