xvii. bad dreams and nobody home

It was the middle of the night and I was wide awake. I just couldn't sleep. I knew it was just a dream, but it felt so real. I hugged Bronto closer to me, but even thinking about Bronto and my wonderful memories with him brought back those scary thoughts.

I was in the treehouse, but it was in the middle of the night. It was dark and scary. There were cobwebs everywhere. I closed the door to the treehouse and I felt trapped. I poked my fingers around and found a dictionary and a few other books and toys. Usually I liked being in the treehouse, but now it was just horrifying.

Horror - an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust

Bronto was there next to me. "It's okay McKenna," he said in his comforting voice. It was no use though. I held Bronto tighter.

We sat there in silence. The silence was finally broken by someone's footsteps. I listened closer. Someone was coming. I crawled towards the corner and tried to stop breathing so heavily.

The footsteps continued. They were clearly climbing up the tree. They were close now. I held my breath and waited for my certain doom.

Doom - death, destruction, or some other terrible fate.

The treehouse door creaked open. I could see the face of a monster. The monster was a lot bigger than I was and it looked like it was about to kill me. I screamed and backed away, but it was too late. The monster lunged for me.

Then it took off its mask and I could see its familiar face. The monster was Mommy.

That was when my eyes snapped open. In the end though, there was nobody to save me. I just had to try to go to sleep on my own, despite the bad dreams.