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January |
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January |
Alexi sprawled on his bed, stuffed to the gills with Chinese food. Apparently his mother wasn’t the only one who wanted to see him. His dad, surviving grandparents, aunts, uncles and the handful of cousins still on the island met them at the family’s favorite restaurant. It was fun seeing everyone again and the food was excellent. The only problem was, now that he was home, it was hard to get motivated to do anything except maybe unbutton his jeans. Oh, he ate too much. Alexi could feel the food coma and the jet lag creeping up on him. He shifted a little, letting his bare feet hang over the side of his bed and started to doze. It wasn’t the most comfortable position but he was too sleepy to care.
Something brushed against the back of his foot, something warm and smooth like someone’s fingers… Alexi bolted up, pulling his legs onto the bed.
He glanced around the room nervously, looking for any sign of the monster that was responsible for so many sleepless nights. Cautiously, Alexi rolled onto his stomach and peeked under his bed. But there was nothing there, except for a herd of dust bunnies and an old shoe box.
Alexi pushed a handful of chin-length hair out of his eyes and sighed. “Stop being stupid; you’re too old to have a monster under your bed.” He looked at his closet warily. “Or in your closet.”
Still, he had to be sure. Alexi stepped closer and opened the closet door quickly, determined to surprise anyone or thing that might be hiding inside. Part of his brain expected something to lunge at him as soon as he opened the door. Alexi felt ten again, and it wasn’t a good thing. Thankfully, nothing attacked him. His closet was empty except for a few boxes, some old clothes and a toy or two on the top shelf.
“Alexi?”
“In here…” Alexi peeked out of the closet at his mom. She was in her pajamas and probably stopping by to check on him before bed. An old habit of hers, he guessed.
“You know, you tell me not to make any jokes about you coming out of the closet and yet there you are. It’s not nice to tease your mother like that…”
“Mom! It wasn’t deliberate. I was just—“
“Looking for your monster?” She sat down on his bed patting the spot next to her. “You know he’s probably moved out or starved to death by now.”