Marcus walked slowly into his empty bedroom, wearing his blanket around his shoulders.  Since he hadn't yet started kindergarten, he didn't have many friends yet so the move was fairly easy, just annoying.

He slowly walked around his new room, looking out the window and up at the ceiling.  When he got to the closet, he opened it slowly.  Inside was a boy his age, playing with a pebble and a stick.  He had curly red hair framing his pale face and bright green eyes.  What was even stranger than his presence was the fact that he had little tiny antlers and sharp-tipped ears.

The boy looked up at Marcus and smiled awkwardly "oh, uh... hi?"

"who are you?" Marcus asked, a bit weirded-out but not scared.

"James," the boy said, a bit more confident but still seeming a bit awkward, "who are you?"

"Marcus."

Marcus sat down on the floor of the closet, facing the other boy.  He kept his blanket wrapped tightly around his shoulders.

"why are you here?" both of the boys asked at the same time.

Marcus answered first, "I'm here because this is my new bedroom and I live here now."

"I'm here because its my job," James said, "I'm the monster in the closet.  I live here."

"you don't look that scary," Marcus pointed out.

James gasped dramatically, making Marcus laugh.  Soon James was giggling along with him.