-10:30 PM-

"What if something's in the closet?" asked Claire.

"There's nothing in the closet but your clothes and stuffed animals," Chris replied bluntly.

"But what if something appears there in the dark?"

"It won't, now go to bed."

"Leave the light on."
"No, you have to learn to sleep in the dark. Goodnight." Chris said, shutting the door behind him.

-10:49 PM-

"There's something in the closet!"

Chris lowered his book and sighed. "There's nothing in your closet, now get the hell out of my room!"

"Yes there is! I saw it!"

He sighed again, and got out of bed. As much as he loved his little sister, her childish fears were something he had to deal with every night, and he never looked forward to it. "Okay, show me."

Claire led him back to her room and stopped at the doorway, then turned and ran behind his back. Chris shook his head and walked in, heading straight for the closet. He looked inside, glanced back to his sister, and sighed. "I see a jacket, some shirts, and the huge stuffed animal you insist on keeping locked away...which, by the way, I'm selling soon," he said.

"I thought it was a monster," said Claire.

Chris looked at her and sighed. He couldn't be mad, since she was only eight and fearing monsters was apparently normal at that age. He'd stopped believing in monsters when he was nine, but knew his sister would fear them for many years to come.

"Well it wasn't, so you can go to bed now," he said.

Claire turned and crawled up on her giant bed, sliding under the covers. "Leave the light on?"

"Yeah sure, as long as you go to sleep!"

Claire nodded and lied down, pulling the sheets over her head.

Chris closed the door and sighed again.

-1:30 AM-

"CHRIS!"

Chris sat up, glancing at the clock. "Oh come on!" he said. He got up and headed to Claire's room, stopping at the door. "What is it now?"

Claire was curled up in the far corner of her room, holding a flashlight. "The light went out!"

He turned and flicked the switch up and down. "Huh, must've burnt out. That's why we usually turn them OFF at night, like normal people."

"It's too dark!"

Chris sighed again. "Why are you all the way over there?"

"Something's under the bed!" said Claire.

"Something's under the bed...of course..." said Chris, sighing yet again. He walked over to her, grabbed the flashlight, and walked back to the bed. "Stupid boogeyman," he said as he kneeled down and turned on the light. The beam was aimed under the bed, and he looked around. "I don't see anything."

Out of the shadow, a giant reptile-like face appeared. It let out a loud hiss-screeching noise and headed right for Chris, its mouth bearing shark fangs.

-1:32 AM-

Chris sat up with a yell.

On the couch next to him, Claire jumped. "Jesus, Chris! What the hell?" she said.

He rubbed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Was I sleeping?" he asked.

Claire nodded. "You fell asleep halfway through the movie, freak. Did you have a weird dream or something?" she asked.

Chris looked over to her. She was her normal adult self again, the fearful expression turned to an annoyed glare. "Yeah, I did, with monsters and everything."

Claire grinned. "What kind of monsters?" she asked.

He grinned back and put his hand on her head, waving it around and messing up her tied-back hair. "The most annoying little monster I ever had to deal with," he said.

Claire hit his hand and reached up to her hair. "Not cool!" she said, taking out the hair-elastic to fix it.

Chris smiled at his sister. She might've been a little monster growing up, and a pain in the ass to watch over, but he knew he'd do it all over again.

-1:44 AM-

End.

(Seriously, that's the time now!)