First Chapter First Paragraph Thursday Intros ~ I Found the Boogeyman Under My Brother’s Crib by Ben Farthing
I heard my little brother cry in his nursery. A stranger laughed in response.
I leapt out of bed without thinking.
Exhaustion made trusting my senses tricky. But if I’d really heard that vindictive laugh then I needed to get to my brother.
I pulled open my door, aware that I was sacrificing at least a few minutes of precious sleep I was allowed.
Bennet cried again. He was almost two, and I’d spent so much time with him this summer break that I instantly recognized this was a cry of either fear or pain. At least, I thought I did. It was so hard to be sure of assumptions like this that I had to double-check before I acted on them. Otherwise, I’d end up with another lecture from Mom and Dad about Making Good Decisions. The hallway was dark except for a sliver of light from a nightlight in the hall bathroom. Mom and Dad’s door was cracked.
It was even darker in there.
I rushed to Bennet’s room, between mine and my parents’.
Through his cries, I listened to hear that stranger’s laugh again. It had been made, raspy, and unkind. The sound of a bully closing in on prey.
Had I dreamed it?
It was hard to tell, lately.
I flipped Bennet’s light switch, connected to an outlet which powered a floor lamp. The lamp didn’t turn on.
