I'm Sorry, Daddy

I was a single father at the time. My wife had been a narcissistic madwoman who wasn't capable of taking care of herself, so our divorce was more or less a blessing to me. When we had separated, I was granted custody of our young son, who was my entire life. During our marriage, my wife had complained that I spent to much time doting on him rather than her, who apparently thought she deserved acknowledgment. Having that witch out of the house and away from my boy had many advantages about it, but it also had some drawbacks. I was working all the time, so often I would hire a babysitter or call my parents and see if they could watch my son. I usually tried to get my parents to do it, but every now and again I had to settle with Marcy, the only babysitter who was ever available on short notice. I never particularly liked Marcy, as she was always a bit on the irresponsible side. Marcy would often spend most of the time babysitting on the phone rather than paying attention to my child, and every time she saw my car pull into the driveway she grabbed her things and left through the back door…She was a pain. But she was all that was available.

One night, I stepped into my home I called her name, but there was no answer. I assumed she must have left through the back door again, so I paid no attention to her lack of answer. I walked into the living room and saw that at the top of my stairs was my son, still in his pajamas.

"Hey, sport." I called to him, before noticing the look on his face. "Something wrong, son?"

"I had a nightmare, Daddy." He told me, before running down the stairs to hug me. "It was so scary…"

"What happened in it?" I asked. He hugged me tighter.

"I was walking down the hall when I heard the sound of Marcy humming downstairs. I hid in the dark of the tops of the stairs where she couldn't see me, and I spied on her doing her homework in the kitchen. After a few minutes, the pantry door behind her opened silently. She was listening to her little music thingy, so she didn't hear it. Out of the pantry there was this naked monster man with tiny little black eyes…" he shivered.

"Go on, son." I cajoled.

"Well, the monster man watched her for a long time, and then he waved his hand at the closet in the living room. It opened, and another monster man came out of that door. She was focused on her homework and her music and it was dark so she didn't see him either. The two monster men watched her for a while before the second monster man waved at the window. The curtain was pushed away, and there was another monster man behind it. Marcy didn't see him either…so then, the third and second monster men waved at the basement door, and two monster men came out. I was so scared, Daddy…but I tried to be quiet and none of them saw me. "They all watched Marcy for a few minutes before the one right behind her started growling. She didn't hear it. It growled louder. She made a face and blinked. I was praying that she wouldn't turn around, Daddy. But she did. She screamed and screamed and cried and screamed, and all the naked monster men ran up and started attacking her. They ripped her into pieces and ate them all…and when they were done they licked up all the blood on the floor. Then they all nodded at each other, and they all went back to where they were before…in the pantry, in the closet, behind the curtain, in the basement…and I just sat at the top of the stairs, I was so scared Daddy…"

I pulled the boy closer as he softly began to cry. I gave him a soft kiss on the cheek as I tried my best to comfort him. "…Then what happened, son?"

"…I…I went to leave and get the neighbors to help. I thought that if I ran fast enough to the door, they wouldn't catch me. I ran as fast as I could…but they all jumped out at me, Daddy. They were so scary. They grabbed me and were about to eat me when…when…"

"What happened, son?"

He stuttered as he attempted to weep out the rest of the tale.

"You can tell me anything, son…what happened?" I stroked his hair as he began to compose himself.

"I…I…I told them that if they let me go…I would stall you when you came home, so they could get you too, Daddy…and spare me."

All was silent for a moment. And in that moment, I could hear a series of doors opening all around the house. My son buried his face in my chest.

"I'm sorry, Daddy.