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Monsters
and Brothers Written by Judy L. Forney Illustrated by Samantha Bell The sun sank into the waves on the horizon and I switched on my flashlight. Night birds caw-cawed and the surf roared. The beach sure was spooky after dark. Like something from a creepy story, but this was real and I was scared. How could I tell Mom I’d lost Tom? It’s not my fault he ran off, I thought for the millionth time. That wasn’t exactly true. I probably should have stopped teasing him. Tom was the most monstrous brother on the planet. Problem was Mom had only agreed to take us camping because we’d promised to stick together. And we’d promised Dad, far from home with the Marines that we would too.
“Tom!” Nothing moved in the dark. It wasn’t cold, but a shiver shuddered up my spine. I imagined having to write a letter: Dear Dad, guess what? I lost Tom. Love, Steve… I figured Dad would be a little angry and really disappointed in me. “Tom!” And as I yelled again, the sand shifted under foot and I tumbled down the dune. At the bottom I sat up, wondering if things could get any worse. My ankle was twisted and my mouth full of sand. I rubbed the ache and spat. Sure, sometimes Tom was monstrous. I couldn’t help but remember one night when, after lights-out, I’d wrapped myself in toilet paper like a mummy, tip-toed down the hall to his bedroom, slowly opened the door, and...BOO! Tom had hollered his head off and Mom hadn’t found my joke real funny either. Matter of fact she’d been kind of mad. And that’s when Tom had pitched in and helped clean up the toilet paper mess his very own unwrapped monster brother had made. Yep, Dad would be a lot disappointed. I had to find Tom, but how could I get back up the dune on my hurt ankle? Suddenly an eerie howl wailed. Eee-i-yeeee… My throat dried. I couldn’t swallow. Eee-i-yoooo… It was too late! Some horrible creature had captured Tom and now was coming after me. I flashed my light into the darkness topping the dune. Eee-i-yeeee… “…I’ll help yooouuu!” Tom slid down beside me. “I wasn’t scared,” I said, breathing again. “Sure.” In the flashlight’s glow, I saw Tom roll his eyes. I hurled a handful of sand at him, trying not to smile. “O.K., maybe I did think something even more monstrous than you was up there.” I flashed my light high overhead. Tom’s gaze followed the beam. His eyes widened. Then… “BOO!” We shouted, together, into the night sky. I threw one arm over Tom’s shoulder and we climbed back up the dune. I thought of the letter I’d now write: Dear Dad guess what? Me and Tom are both monsters and we’ll always brothers. I figured he wouldn’t be disappointed at all.
© 2012 Guardian Angel Publishing,
Inc.
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