(7)-Family Dinner.

As the Doyle family sat the dinner-table, with Ronnie and Stephanie eating dinner, which was tacos, Tommy was looking down at the four tacos on his plate.

"Something wrong with the tacos?" Stephanie asked.

"Uh, no, i had two sandwiches for lunch at school today." Tommy said. While that was indeed true, the 8-year old knew that that wasn't the real reason why he wasn't eating. He was thinking about what he always thought about since the age of 4: The Boogyman.

"Tommy, stop day-dreaming and eat your tacos, please?" Stephanie said.

"Yeah, buddy. You gotta come back to the real world from time to time." Ronnie added.

"If you say so." Tommy said.

"They're delicious, honey." Ronnie said to Stephanie, referring to the tacos.

"Thank you, sweetie." Stephanie said.

"Mom...i was wondering...can Logan and i got bike-riding after school tomorrow through the neighborhood before Trick-or-Treating time?" Tommy asked.

"Why are you just now asking me this?" Stephanie asked.

"It just came to me now." Tommy answered. "Please?"

"Oh, alright. But be back here before Trick-or-Treating time." Stephanie said.

"Okay, thanks." Tommy said.

"You're welcome." Stephanie said.

Tommy picked up his glass cup of milk and started drinking it. He then looked and saw a human-shaped figure pop up from behind the sofa in the living-room, making him choke on his milk.

"Tommy, are you okay?" Stephanie asked.

Tommy looked at the sofa in the living-room and saw that there was no one behind it. "Sorry. I guess i drunk my milk too fast." He said. He wanted more than anything to tell his parents the truth, but what was he suppose to say to them? That he saw a human-shaped figure pop up from behind the sofa that turned out not to be there? They would have him put back on the medicine for sure. They already thought he was crazy after the show and tell incident at school earlier today. Why add fuel to the fire if he knew he could prevent it?

"Are you sure?" Stephanie asked.

"It's okay, honey, he just choked on his milk." Ronnie assured.

Tommy placed his glass of milk back on the table. "Mom...Dad...do you think i'm...not normal?"

"What are you talking about? Of course we think you're normal. Why would you ask that?" Stephanie asked.

"Because Lonnie said i wasn't. He said for me not to let you guys fool me. That i wasn't normal and i never will be." Tommy explained.

"Ugh! That dang Lonnie, i should've known. I could just whoop him." Stephanie said.

"Are you alright?" Ronnie asked.

"I'm fine." Tommy said.

"You know Lonnie didn't mean it." Ronnie said.

"Yes, he did." Tommy said.

"No, he didn't." Ronnie said. "He's...he's just being Lonnie. You know you can't let what he says get to you."

"But he tricked me into telling the whole 3rd grade class about the Boogyman." Tommy said.

Ronnie and Stephanie looked at each other, then Ronnie got an idea. An idea. An idea that would help Tommy get over this Boogyman non-sense once and for all. And he knew just how to go about doing it.
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