(28)-Memories.
August 4th, (1974)
4-Year old Tommy Doyle laid in bed as his Dad, Ronnie, sat on the left side of the bed while tucking him in. The boy also had his night-light on, which was a purple lava-lamp that rested on the night-stand by his bed.
"Can we talk?" Ronnie asked.
"I guess so." Tommy answered.
"You know...i thought the Boogyman was in my closet too when i was a little boy. It scared me so much, i couldn't sleep in my own room for a whole summer. He was always threatening to jump out of my closet in the middle of the night and take me." Ronnie explained.
"Really?" Tommy asked.
"Really." Ronnie said. "One night...i waited until i heard him rumbling inside my closet. I took a deep breath...and got out of bed...and marched myself right up to the closet and said to that monster "Okay, if you're so big and scary, why don't you just come out and show yourself? Why don't you come out and get me"? And you know what?"
"What?" Tommy asked.
"The rumbling suddenly stopped. And i never heard from the Boogyman again. I realized that the Boogyman is just a big bully like all other monsters. And bullies are afraid when you stand up to them. Okay?" Ronnie said.
"Okay." Tommy said.
"Good." Ronnie said before he got off the bed and went over to the open door and turned the lights off, followed by exiting the room and closing the door afterwards.
Having been assured by his Daddy what the Boogyman really was, as well as how to defeat him, Tommy turned over on his left side and...closed his eyes...and went to sleep.
...
September 7th, (1977)
7-Year old Tommy Doyle and his parents sat at the dining-room table, eating fried fish and fries, with three glasses of sprite and ice on the table along with a glass bottle of ketchup.
"So the interview went real well. There was absolutely no problem-"
"The Boogyman's in my closet." Tommy said, cutting his Dad, Ronnie, off.
"So anyway...Murphey tried to book that other session without checking-"
"Why won't anyone believe me? The Boogyman's in my closet." Tommy said, cutting Ronnie off again.
"Without checking with Ziggy. So there was no way we were gonna be bought." Ronnie finished.
"The Boogyman's in my closet. Why won't anyone believe me?" Tommy said.
"Okay, Tommy, cutting it out. There's nothing in your closet. There's nothing to be afraid of. Now stop it." Stephanie said.
"The Boogyman's in my closet. The BOOGYMAN'S in my closet." Tommy said.
"Listen, young man, you better stop being a baby. Your mother tells me you won't clean your closet 'cause you're afraid. Afraid of what. The closet? You're to go upstairs and stay in your room until you clean that closet. You understand?" Ronnie scolded.
"Yes, Dad." Tommy said.
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Tommy awoke, sat up, and looked at his surrounding, realizing the horrible reality of his situation.
He was 8 years old, not 4 or 7.
It was October 31st-Halloween, 1978, not August 4th-1974 or September 7th-1977.
He was in the Boogyman's lair, not in his bedroom listening to his Dad talk with him about the Boogyman. Nor was he sitting at the dining-room table with his parents, eating fish and fries, being ignored and scolded by his parents about the Boogyman's existence.
They didn't believe him then either. There were many other times Tommy had told his parents about the Boogyman, but he preferred not to think about them. But what about now? Would they believe him now after what had happened tonight? Would they believe him now that he was missing? They had to. There was no way his parents would be able to explain away all this as just some fictional nightmare. Even they wouldn't be able to paint over this one with their monster denials and fake-safety assurances they had been instilling into him since he was 4. And then there was the school therapist. She was no better than his folks when it came to not believing him about the existence of the Boogyman and other monsters, what with her denials and fake-safe assurance non-sense.
Now they would have to believe him about the Boogyman and monsters being real. They didn't have a choice now.
He couldn't wait to go back to school tomorrow and see how his teacher and the shrink explained everything that happened tonight. If that even happened. He would have to get out of here first. He then fell back on the ground, closed his eyes, and thought about Logan and the conversation they had at school earlier today as he drifted back off to sleep.
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"You wanna what?" Logan asked while sitting at a table with Tommy, who was sitting on the other side. Both boys were sitting in the school cafeteria during lunch, with their food on treys and resting on the table.
"I wanna look into the Boogyman's history and see how i can stop him for good. You in?" Tommy said.
"I don't know. Sounds like a wild goose-chase to me." Logan said.
"It's not a wild goose-chase. The Boogyman is real, i know it." Tommy said.
"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Logan asked.
"I'm positive. Remember, Lonnie said that if i told the class about the Boogyman, it would leave me alone." Tommy said.
"Yeah, and we see how well that worked out." Logan said.
"But he said something else to me after he advised me to tell the class. Something that actually made sense." Tommy said.
"Lonnie Elam actually said something that made sense? Oh, this i gotta hear. Spill." Logan said.
"Well...he said that if telling the class didn't work, i should investigate the Boogyman's history, i may be able to find his weakness and defeat him." Tommy explained.
"And you believed him? Dude, please. This is Lonnie Elam we're talking about. The school bully. I can't believe you're still taking advice from someone who probably won't get out of 3rd grade." Logan said.
"Laurie said Lonnie probably won't get out of the 6th grade." Tommy said.
"Well, he has to make it there first." Logan said.
"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!" Tommy and Logan laughed.
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See you in Chapter 29.
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