I was only 5 years old when it all started. The little green creäture I had nicknamed Squish would sit at the end of my bed yelling for me to come play with it. I always pulled my Holly Hobbit blanket up tightly over my head. I was afraid of Squish. I never could make out exactly what it was. It was always dark in my room when it would come out to play. The only reason I could tell that it was slightly greenish in color was because I had this yellowish night-light at the bottom corner of my room. It didn’t give much light, just enough to give it this creepy glow. It was an old light that was about to go out and had a tendency to do this flicker thing at night, only adding to the creep factor of its appearance.
One night my parents came rushing into my room when the smoke detectors went off through the house. My father came in and swept me out of bed. He thought maybe there was a fire somewhere in the house. He said he could not smell smoke though. He guessed it was just a roach or something that had gotten into the smoke alarms and had set them all off. I thought that was an oddly peculiar statement and I felt I was smarter and wiser than the average five-year old. How would a roach have gotten into all the alarms? Especially since they had all gone off simultaneously.
My mom freaked out about it and wanted me to sleep with them that night. She was afraid that someone or something was trying to get into our trailer that we had only been living in a few days. Someone had only recently tied a shrunken head to our front door knob with a note attached saying that they were going to get their little girl if we didn’t move. You would think that my parents would have called the call cops but my dad thought it was just some kids playing a joke or something since we were the new people in their little trailer park. It was around Halloween when we moved in after all. Of course maybe it was in fact just a mere joke that someone was playing. I knew better though.
I slept in their room that night. I overheard my parent taking as I tried to sleep in my little pallet they made for me on their bedroom floor. I knew that the alarms had not went off because of someone. I also knew it wasn’t because of a nasty roach. It was because of the little green monster. He had told me he was wanting to play with him . He said he was going to set the alarms off if I didn’t play with him. I should have played with him. But he scared me with his little arms and legs, beady glowing eyes and slimy green body. No way did I want to play with that. It was going to get its way eventually because I didn’t want my parents sleep to be disrupted anymore and I didn’t want to have to sleep on a cold trailer floor. I wanted my wicker bed with the comfortable Holly Hobbit blanket. If I was on the floor than the monster was that much closer to grabbing me up and doing who knows what with me.
It was the next evening my parents went to bed early and tucked me into bed tightly as they normally did at night. This night was different though. I was comforted by my grandmother visiting me. She always wanted to sit with me for a tea party. I had meant to tell my parents about her occasional visits but I figured they already knew so I never mentioned it. I just thought they were being mindful and were watching out for their only child. It’s funny because I had never seen her before until she started coming over late at night.
This night in particular my father was standing behind my bedroom door. I was right in the middle of talking to my grandmother.
“Here is your tea Grandma,” as I handed her cup she began to shake. She wasn’t her normal self that night.
“Oh thank you honey. You are such a doll. I sure do enjoy having tea with you. These monsters will surely not bother you as long as I am in here with you.” She pretended to sip on the tea as her lips pressed against the cold china.
I looked at my Grandma with delight but with uncertainty as well. I could not understand why her hair seemed melted to her head. It was like this black plastic wig of sorts. It was all stringy and I could see a bit of cobwebs intertwined through it. She didn’t look as beautiful as I had been told she looked. My father had mentioned her many times to me. He never said she looked so pale and fragile. Her eyes were dark blue but seemed out-of-place and they never moved at all. They were much like that of a porcelain doll. She smelled like roses, sweet red roses. It was a delightful smell. And her lips were a dark ruby-red, although always pursed together and when she spoke her lips didn’t move. She was like a puppet or something. But she was so kind. Her voice so soft and gentle
“Grandma why don’t you ever visit me in the day? I miss you! My father would love to see you. Please come over in the day.” I looked at her with sad puppy eyes. But she didn’t move at all. She looked like she was in shock. She dropped the cup as it hit the floor and shattered.
She suddenly disappeared as my father opened the door. I assumed it scared her and that’s why she took off so quickly. My father proceeded to ask me to whom I had been talking to. I told him Grandma. And he asked me if I was okay. He began to pick up the broken pieces from the cup my Grandma had just dropped.
“Now listen here. Do not lie to me! Your grandmother is dead and has been dead many years now. I’m sorry I never told you that until now. But she is in heaven with Grandpa. He yelled as if he was in pain.
“Oh my God! Son of a… Ouch!” He cut his finger and began to s**k the blood from it to stop it from bleeding any further.
He had cut his finger and then proceeded to point it towards me as he shook it like he would always do when I was in trouble. It drove me crazy when he did that.
I sat up in my little torn up night-gown. I never had new clothes because it was always something worn and used. My parents were too poor to afford to buy me anything new. And this night in particular I was wearing a gown that looked like it had been through many years of wear. You could barely make out the puppy dog on the front of it and the blue coloring of the garment was more like a grayish white color. There were holes all through it too.
“Father, it was Grandma in here! I promise!!! I began to tear up and was yelling at him in anger I hated to make him upset but he thought I was lying and I would not be accused of lying.
He dropped down to my level again and looked me in the eyes as he began to smell the air. And tears began to swell up in his eyes as a smile formed on his face.
“Oh my God! Melinda! Come here now!” He started yelling for my mom to come into my room.
My mom asked what was wrong. She could see that my father looked upset and she could hear it in his unsteady tone.
“Do you smell roses? I smell them as if they are right here in this room with us. “He looked at me and then at my mom.
“Yes Jerry, I smell them. What is that and where is it coming from?” My mom knelt by his side as well. They both looked perplexed.
I tried to tell them about Grandma and her beautiful perfume but Dad already knew I hadn’t been lying. That was her signature scent. She had worn that scent his entire life. He asked me what we had talked about and what she looked like to me. My mom all the while looked scared, she was shaking and holding him tightly.
I began to describe her. “Dark hair, blue eyes and pale skin.” I started to feel sad for him. He apparently missed her. I wasn’t about to tell him about her plastic looking hair and all those other strange things that I didn’t like about her. He would have been even more terrified and upset.
“But Father she keeps the green monster away and plays with me. I love her so much. What is wrong?”
My mom picked me up and held me against her as I latched my legs around her tightly. She carried me into her room. I didn’t understand why my father was so upset about Grandma.
The next morning my parents took me on a house hunting trip. We were moving again it seemed. They wanted out of that morbid trailer. They said it was haunted and cursed. They told me to never talk to any strangers again. I guess they thought someone had broken into my room. But I thought for sure my father knew I hadn’t been lying. I mean with the perfume smell and the tear jerking moment. But he acted as if none of that had ever happened. He just dropped the subject.
It was shortly after that trip when we found a new home. I got a new room and never saw my Grandma again after that. But it didn’t stop the elves from coming. They wanted me to play every single second with them why couldn’t these creatures leave me alone. They would run after me with clippers threatening to shave me bald if I didn’t play. I finally told my parents I was scared to sleep alone because I was having horrible nightmares. It was from that point on that I slept with them in their room for many years. It was the only thing I could do to keep the elves away and the green monster. I missed my bed. I really wanted my room back and those visits with my Grandma. I couldn’t wait to grow up. I just wanted these creatures to stay a distant memory. And to never come back.