Day 1: The Ugly Duckling

It was pitch black outside, the tall buildings near her home had blocked the moonlight. The only source of light was from a night lamp placed neatly next to her bed. Which was also where the creature was standing.

At least she assumed it was.

It was much taller than her, maybe about 8 foot tall, it’s head almost touching the ceiling. She couldn’t make out where it’s arms, legs or even mouth was, but very clearly she could see it’s big eyes looking down at her. It had bulging eyeballs and lifeless pupils.

She should have ran away, screamed or at the very least sleep but for some reason, she decided not to. The girl calmly said,

“Hi, it’s a lovely night isn’t it?”

The monster did not speak, it stood still.

“I’m sure the moon’s bright, but I can’t see it right now.”

She didn’t take her eyes off of the figure.

“ Should I tell you a bedtime story?”

The monster did not speak. Neither did it nod or shake it’s head. It just sat down on the floor, with it’s huge eyes still staring directly at the girl’s smiling face.

“ Just this afternoon I saw a duck. It was an ugly duck. It lived in a pond near my house. There was a house in the middle of the lake, on this very very small island that only the duck could fit in. Because it was a very tiny duck, and tiny ducks are ugly.

The duck loved it’s house so very much, so much that it refused to go anywhere else. People threw food at it, tried to fed it, I tried too, but it wouldn’t leave. So I swam out and I asked the duck why it wouldn’t eat. It just said it didn’t want to eat. I think that’s why it’s so tiny, and tiny ducks are ugly.

So then I decided to swim back to shore, and it told me to bring it food tomorrow, and that it would eat then. I thought that was ridiculous, so I’m not going to try and feed it tomorrow anymore. It looked really sad then, which made it even uglier. It was an ugly duck.

Anyways it loved it’s house. So much that when the walls worn down, it plucked it’s own feathers and glued it onto the wall, hoping it would help. But of course, feathers can’t help the house, and because it kept plucking it’s feathers, it became even uglier.

So then it tried to leave the house. I’m not sure why, because it couldn’t do it in the end. It loved it’s house too much to do that.”

She took her eyes away from the figure, and looked straight into the endless pit of darkness outside. The figure grew nearer, she could see it through the mirror. It didn’t stop.

“ I think it’s still plucking it’s feathers now. It really is an ugly duck”

The lights went out. She couldn’t see the monster anymore. It must have went back under the bed. She closed her eyes.

“ Goodnight”

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***