Hey You! ....Boo!

Did you *hear* that sound?

Is it a monster that I have found?

(No Monsters Who Live In Our Home!, El Bebe Productions Limited)

"Here it is!" Pete said happily, waving the map in the air.

On the way back home, the twins had discussed a lot about the cat and her curt attitude. Should they trust her? Should they meet her the next day at the well? And where was the well, anyway?

Cookie had been of little help during the discussion. He seemed to take everything in stride. Did he trust Kitty? Lola had asked him. The dog did answer with his usual mixed philosophy. He did not like her particularly, he did not dislike her either. She was a cat, an animal, what not to trust then?

"let me see," Lola took the map from her brother's hands and set it on the desk. "Look this, here," she pointed to a point on the map. A circle was drawn in the middle of a round of trees.

"Do you think it is the well?" Pete inquired. He pushed his sister to see the map better.

"It looks like it," Lola answered, uncertain. "I think this path is where we were today..." The two brother and sister continued to comment the drawings and signs on the map.

"Pete! Lola!"

Grandpa was calling them.

"Come down and help me with the garden!"

Pete and Lola had started to help Grandpa water the plants and take care of the trees in the garden late in the afternoon. The boy liked the chore, but his sister did not look forward to it. She would have preferred to stay in the bedroom and check the map for places they already went. For the path to follow tomorrow to meet with Kitty.

"Pete! Lola!" Grandma was calling from the kitchen.

Once they finished in the garden, Pete and Lola went to see Grandma. She wanted them to help her. Dinner time was soon, and the children had to set the table and assist with the meal preparation.

"Are there people who live in the forest?"

The dinner was lively that night, as it had become to be for the past days. Pete was full of questions about the woods behind the house.

"I never saw anyone when I walked there," Grandpa answered. "But it does not mean no one lives there," he added thoughtfully.

"Who made the map, Grandpa?" Lola questioned.

"I don't know. I think my dad gave it to me when I was a kid. I remember I showed it to you," he said looking at Grandma.

"That's right," Grandma agreed, thinking back of the time they were kids and used to meet in the woods. The boy, and his slobbering dog, had been her best friends. They were still best friends today.

"You did not give it to me before I got lost, though, and I had to spend a night in the woods."

"Oh!" Grandpa said with a smile, "were you really lost? Or did you just want to stay out for the night?"

"It would be so great to camp and spend a night in the forest..." Pete's eyes were all dreamy.

"See what you did?" Grandma reprimanded Grandpa.

"It is not so great as you think, Pete," she explained to the boy, "I was quite frightened when it happened to me."

"Grandma is right," Grandpa said to the children, "camping in the woods will not be possible. But, if you want to do a night out, we can set a tent in the garden. Not tonight, however. Camping needs a bit of preparation, even in the garden."

~~

"... and a flashlight. We have a flashlight, Lola?"

Pete asked from his bed. His disappointment when Grandpa told them they could not spend the night in the woods vanished quickly at the mention of a tent in the garden. It was not as adventurous, but it would be fun all the same.

"I don't know, Pete," Lola answered her brother automatically. She was distracted and did not listen attentively to Pete's chatter.

"We can see tomorrow with Grandma and Grandpa... Where did you put the map?"

"It is on the desk. I didn't take it."

"I don't find it," Lola said with exasperation. "Did you move it?"

"No!" Pete defended himself. "I did not touch it! We looked at it earlier together, then we left to help Grandpa and Grandma. I don't know where it is... Perhaps it fell on the floor. Did you check under the bed?" He added with a sleepy voice.

"I don't see it anywhere..." Lola grumbled. She looked under her bed. Nothing there. Under the desk. No trace of the map. Where could it be? She looked all over the bedroom, with no success.

"Pete, can you..." Lola called her brother but stopped when she saw he was fast asleep. She should sleep also, and ask Pete to help her in the morning to find the map. Annoyed with the mystery of the disappearance of the map, Lola closed her eyes.

Lola had a pleasant dream. She was in the woods, Cookie and Kitty were playing around, chasing butterflies. The air was warm and quiet, and it smelled like fresh cut grass.

She was plucking berries in a bush when she heard a strange noise. It was a mix between someone walking on dry leaves and nails scrapping a hard surface. A disturbing noise.

Lola started in the direction of the sound. It came from her right side. There was a path, not clearly defined, but a path she could follow. She could see a blue light in the distance, a blue halo around the trees.

As she walked on the path, reaching toward the end, she could see the light was coming from some rocks scattered on the ground. She stopped to look at the blue rocks and bent to take one when she heard her brother calling her.

"...la... la... back..." She could only hear few words. Pete was back were she left him with Cookie and Kitty and the butterflies.

"Lola!... black..." Her brother's voice was closer now. He sounded breathless also. Was he running toward her?

"Lola!" Pete was now so near, it felt like he was talking in her ear. He was also shaking her.

"Lola! The map!" The jolting finally woke her up.

"What are you doing, Pete?" Startled, Lola opened her eyes to find Pete on her bed.

"Shush! I saw something moving. I think there is something under the bed. I saw something moving... it looked like a piece of paper, the map I think... It's dark... Do you think it can be a monster?"

"Don't say stupid things, Pete, You know monster don't..." Lola was lecturing her brother when she heard the scraping noise. Silently, she looked around, in the dark bedroom. There was something moving under Pete's bed. She started to open her mouth, as to shout for alarm, but Pete put his hands up, shutting her up.

"Shush!" He said again. "Look. See the paper? I think it is the map. Something is pulling it. Where is it going?"

Pete was a bit frightened, he wanted to check but was afraid of the monster under the bed. Lola was as much frightened as her brother. Together, they got off the bed in silence and slowly approached Pete's bed. Bending down, they tried to look under the bed were the moving piece of paper had vanished.

Luckily, the window was letting in some light from the moon outside. Pete was the first to see the dark form huddled against the wall. 

"Give the map back, Monster!" Lola demanded in an angry voice.

The monster did not move for a moment, then threw the paper at the children. He then got as far as he could from Pete and Lola.

"Lola? I think he is afraid of us," Pete told his sister, still looking at the monster.

"I don't know, Pete," Lola answered distractedly. She was checking the map, ensuring it did not suffer. The paper was crumpled, but besides the creases, no damage had been done, the girl observed.

"Lola?" Pete looked at his sister, unsure about the next step. There was obviously a monster under the bed, but said monster was not frightening at all. Rather, it was frightened.

"What do we do now? Do we call Grandpa?"

"No! Don't call Grandpa. What do you want to tell him? That we found a monster under the bed? He'll laugh at us..." Lola was thinking about the action to take.

Pete went back looking under the bed, to check on the monster.

"Hmm... Lola..."

The monster had disappeared.

~~

"I found it!" Grandpa exclaimed entering the kitchen.

Pete and Lola were taking a late breakfast after a difficult night. The episode with the monster, the night before, had kept them awake even after its disappearance.

"What did you find, Grandpa?" Lola asked.

"The tent!" He brandished joyfully a big rolled package.

"I discussed with Grandma yesterday night, and she agreed to let you sleep one night outside," Grandpa explained. "But," he added before the children could say anything, "only under the condition that the tent be set near the house. And you will keep cookie with you. And your phone." He almost shouted the end of his sentence to be heard. Pete was jumping all around the place, howling his joy.

"We will set everything this afternoon. For now, just finish your breakfast and take Cookie for a walk. He seems eager to go," Grandpa added pointing at the dog. Cookie was sitting besides the children, wagging his tail and hanging his tongue, his usual smirk showing.

Pete and Lola did not linger more with their morning meal. Once finished, they took their plate to the kitchen sink and called Cookie.

"Let's go!" Pete was quite animated this morning. So many things had happened recently.

The trio almost run the short distance between the kitchen door and the back of the garden. As they passed the gate and entered the woods, Pete could not wait longer to talk to the dog.

"You will never believe what happened last night, Cookie!"He said excitedly. "There was a monster under my bed! He stole our map!"

"A monster, you said? What is a monster?" The dog, perplex, watched perplex the boy.

"A monster is a big creature, usually ugly and frightening," Lola explained.

"But," Pete interrupted his sister, "the one under my bed was small. And not so frightening. He was the one who was afraid of us, I think... How come?"

"Interesting," Cookie commented, thoughtful. "Can you described this so called monster, please?"

"It was black. I think it was black curly fur. But I am not hundred percent sure of it, it was dark in the bedroom even with the moonlight. Oh," Pete continued, thinking about the encounter, "also, it had yellow eyes, and yellow hands." He completed his description with a couple of other details he remembered.

"Is it arms? Or paws? How do you call it for a monster?"

"Probably arms," Lola answered. She did not see much of the monster, the night before, but the creature had been holding the map between his two frontal limbs.

"It looks like you met Monty," Cookie smiled. "He is a shy one. Lives in the attic." He continued talking about the strange and lonely creature. "Did you say he stole your map?" Cookie asked the children. "He probably did not even know it was a map... Monty collect drawings and colourful paper."

"He is not a monster, then?" Pete was confused. Any creature found under a bed was supposed to be a monster.

"You know, young boy, for Monty, you probably were the monster."

"But... I am a boy, a kid. Not a creature. I cannot be a monster!"

"Well... What is a monster for you? You told me a big creature that is ugly and frightening. If you think of Monty, he is smaller than you. And you don't look alike at all. For him, you are the big creature. The ugly one also. And you were probably chasing after him, cornering him... You were probably quite frightening for the poor boy." Cookie explained.

"What is this talk of monster I hear?" A feline voice interrupted the trio.

"Kitty!" Lola welcomed the cat. "We were on our way to meet you. What about the meeting at the well?"

"Look," Pete continued, "we found a map of the forest. In reality, it's Grandpa who gave it to us, but look! There is the well here, and some paths marked. Do you think this is the way to the home of the Unicorn?"

"Hold your horses, boy. Not so fast," the cat grimaced. She was not used to be with people like Pete and Lola. The boy could not stop talking, and the girl tried to carry her and pet her all the time.

"Lucky you I came this morning. You'd have lost your way in the woods with that map. How can you find anything with a piece of paper? There is no scent in it... If you cannot smell, how do you find the signs that indicate the way to go? And the danger?" The cat was not expecting an answer from the children. She just passed between them and headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's place.

"So, what's that about a monster?" Kitty asked Cookie, thinking she probably would have better answers from the other animal. Those two humans were not always comprehensible when they started their convoluted explanations.

"The kids have met Monty," the dog explained with his usual no-nonsense way. Straight to the point.

"Oh," Kitty snorted, "and they called that a monster? How funny!"

"Why do you say that?" Lola asked. She found the cat's attitude rude.

"Funny that you'd think a little thing like Monty could be a monster. All considered, you're probably the monsters here. Look at you. All big and ugly. But you're human, after all..."

"Kitty, please! Behave!" Cookie admonished their feline companion. "You don't dislike much human when it comes to sitting on Grandma's lap and drinking her milk. So, please, let it go."

The rest of the way back home was more relaxed, thanks to Cookie. The dog and the cat talked more about Monty, an old friend of theirs.

~~

"Oh, I see you met Kitty on your walk. So, did you have fun, Cookie?" Grandpa welcomed back the children and the two animals.

The dog looked at him and lolled his tongue in a mocking greeting. Grandpa just laughed at the sight.

"You can go in to freshen up and start helping Grandma with the lunch. Or you can come with me to look for the camping equipment."

"What equipment is it?" Pete's excitement was back.

"There are some mattresses and covers, lights and such... I looked in the basement but did not find them there. So, it's probably all stored up in the attic." Grandpa detailed the things he thought they would need.

"What do you think? Want to explore the loft?"

Pete and Lola looked each other with a grin.

"The attic!"