Scaredy Monster

            For today’s post, I am participating in Susanna Leonard Hill calls a “Short and Sweet.” This will provide an interesting writing juxtaposition from my horror offering earlier in the week. For this writing prompt she provided four lists of story components. We could either pick from the list or randomly generate a number and use the corresponding item. This is what I came up with:

         
            Character = Monster who is afraid of thunder.

            Setting = An Enchanted Forest.

            Time = During the first warm day of Spring.

            Situation = Someone’s pride has been injured.

   

            The story is supposed to be 50-100 words, but Susanna gave us permission to go a little long if we wanted to. Keeping a story to a hundred words is tough. I gave it a try, but came in at 189. Still, keeping it under two hundred is an accomplishment.

  

Scaredy Monster

            Petey jumped as the first growls of thunder rolled past him. Wasn’t it bad enough that he was lost in the stupid enchanted forest? Now the Spring rains were going to dump cold water on him just as the weather had gotten warm and comfortable.

            Thunder exploded in the sky above.

            Boy, he hated thunder. He hated it more than being teased. Now he wished he hadn’t run away from home.

            Petey sat down under a big oak tree and started to cry.

            Then he heard a different sort of thunder from the forest. The sound of falling trees . . . getting closer . . . and closer. Until the two trees in front of him were torn from the ground and tossed aside.

            There stood his mother. Big. Green. Warty. And so beautiful.

            “Petey,” she said in a voice louder than a freight train. “I was so worried about you. Who knows what you might have run into in this forest? Maybe even humans!”

            Petey ran to his mother and wrapped his arms around her. Compared to humans, putting up with his sister didn’t seem so bad.