Scaredy-cat

Thunderstorms and nightmares.

Those two were among the things he really did not like!

However, when he awoke from a terrifying nightmare to loud thunder echoing through the night and rain beating harsh against the window, there was a more pressing matter at hand.

Namely the fact, that he knew, that there was a monster underneath his bed.

Now what to do?

It was the middle of the night and his brother would be asleep by now, so calling for him would not do (him) any good. He could reach for the light switch, but what if the monster just waited for him to pull out the hand from underneath the safety of the blanket, to bite it off?

*KRAWUMM*

(A very bright flash lit up the night behind his curtain and the same time a loud thunder echoed outside.)

*Uaaaahhhhhh*

In a very sudden movement Fritz threw off the blanked, jumped out the bed with both feet at once, as far as he could, just in case the monster was after his feet too, and ran for the door. He opened it with enough force for it to slam against the wall, practically flew over the small corridor and all but fell, door in hand into his brothers room.

Fritz's loud monster-escape had woken Roderich and the man he was currently sharing his bed with.

Both blinked sleepily at the boy.

Gilberts arm had served as Roderichs pillow, the other that had held his brothers waist, reached for the bedside lamp.

They both faced the door, therefore Friedrich who stood at the door, dancing form one foot to the other while he waited for the adults in the room to wipe away the sleep from their eyes and comprehend the severity of the situation.

"Hmmm?", Roderich lifted the blanket, which was all Friedrich needed to hurry over, slip in and curl up against his brothers chest.

"What's wrong kiddo?", (Gilbert) the man behind his brother asked him.

"There's a monster under my bed!"

"…that so?" said Roderich, pulled him closer and rolled over with him. First on his back, so that Fritz was laying in his chest, next to the other side, so that Fritz tumbled between him and Gilbert, who then wrapped the blanked around him.

"Ah, that's alright young man, you've come to the right place! See this? These are some quality monster fighter arms! I'll take the monster and finish it off!" and to prove his point Gilbert was moving his arm and flexed his muscles.

Mesmerized Fritz followed the movement with his eyes. Those sure looked capable of finishing off monsters!

"Might not be necessary, Gilbert!" his brother claimed.

"Why not?"

"Because it is stormy outside!"

"And,… this is relevant how?"

"It means, it's not a mean monster, it's just a scaredy-monster!"

"Scaredy monster?", both Fritz and Gilbert repeated quizzically.

"Yes! You see,…" he bent down to rest his head against Fritz's and looked him into the eyes.

"… the Scaredy-monsters are afraid of storms!", Roderich stated matter of factly.

"…Really?", Gilbert, somewhat incredulous asked

"For sure! Haven't you heard of them? Every child knows this story!"

"What story?", Fritzi asked almost breathless.

His brother's lips curled gently when he spoke again.

"Whenever there is a huge storm every scared-monster turns into a scaredy-cat! And like any scared cat the scaredy-monsters would run and run and run, until they find a place to hide in till the storm is over. It so happens that sometimes a scaredy-monster accidently tries to hide in a house. And as you may know, scaredy-monsters are rather big, therefor hiding is not an easy task! Just a few places in a house offer enough space for that and one of them happen to be underneath princess-beds!"

Fritz looked up to his brother, whose face was so calm and his eyes so convincing.

Beside him Gilbert snorted, which confused Fritz.

'Were scaredy-monsters really so much of a laughing matter?'

"Alright then, no need for me to check on the new house mate?"

"Not at all! Just let it rest there for the night, and I promise it will be gone the next morning!"

And as Gilbert chuckled, and as his brother hugged him tight, and as he yawned, feeling sleepy again, Fritz thought to himself, that maybe monsters, which had to hide under beds in fear of storms were not scary at all.