Five minute free write - Nothing

Jimmy lay in bed crying. His mother sat beside the sobbing boy trying to comfort him. Outside the rain drove a hard beat against the windows and lightning occasionally lit the room with a harsh clear white light.

'But mommy, I swear I saw the door open,' referring to his closet that sat several feet from the tips of his feet. 'I heard a noise, woke up and it was moving...' Another sniffle as his mom hugged him close.

'Oh Jimmy, it was nothing, just your imagination. The storm must have woken you up. I'm sure we just left it open when we tucked you in and you just forgot.'

'But I know we closed it, we always do. Every night...' Jimmy said with a little less certaintity. 'I'm sure we did...' he trailed off.

'Jimmy, your imagination can be a strange thing. It can show you things that are there that really aren't. You're such a smart boy that you can think of so many amazing things. But, monsters in the closet aren't real. Trust me, it's nothing,' she said with a reassuring smile.

Jimmy's mother's face began to frown as she saw her boys eyes go wide with fear. Turning from her seat she looked over past the end of his bed.

In the flashes of lightning that seemed to go on endlessly the door was indeed swinging open. A blackened hand of a nature that defied descripton gripped the door from the inside and was pushing. Beyond it the darkness gave way to

---

I know I'm running several days behind on these free writes.

Been in Reno, NV with the family supporting my sister and her two pups, Nikko and Sole, as they compete in the AKC Nationals. It's been a fun trip so far, and luckily I found some time this morning to write.

The reason I went with this kind of story is that I know we all experienced it as a child. Waking up from a dream, scary closet doors, parents telling us everything was okay...I know it's a bit cliche to make the monster real, but, sometimes cliche is best. I'm trying to get a handle on storytelling, and the best way to get good at something is emulate that which has already been done. To get familiar with the forms, the pacing, the tropes, so that you can warp them out of shape when you're ready to :)

The family is getting ready to go down for breakfast so I need to get going. Hopefully I'll have some time to do some more writing later today. I miss pounding out the words. Thanks again to the lovely @mariannewest for keeping this all going and expanding it with the @freewritehouse. As always, written on The most dangerous writing app. And a link to the prompt for Nothing

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