"Good night, sweetheart," A mother's voice cooed.
"Good night, Mom," A child's voice said.
"Sleep tight kiddo," A father's voice said as a light went out.
A young boy was asleep in his bed, snoring softly. An owl hooted somewhere outside. A clock was tick-tick-ticking by the human's bedside.
Suddenly, the closet opened slightly. The boy's eyes fluttered open, he saw his closet open, and he quickly looked around his bedroom. He saw a something sticking out of his closet and gasping slightly, ducking his head under covers partially. He did a double-take and saw the something was a sweater. The young boy sighed and went back to sleep.
Then, a shadow 'walked' on his bed. Under the young boy's bed was a monster with glowing red eyes. The monster got out from under the bed and stood over the boy. He held his claws in the air and growled slightly.
The boy quickly opened his eyes, turned towards the monster, and let out a scream. So did the monster. The monster walked backwards, and stepped on a soccer ball. The soccer ball bounced off the wall, which hit the monster, and the monster fell on some jacks.
The monster then let out another scream, this time of pain. The monster jumped back to his feet, held his bottom, and ran around the room, still screaming. He knocked some things over, and started to scoot his bottom on the ground like a dog. Then, the monster rolled on the ground for a few seconds, and then the lights flicked back on. The monster stopped rolling on the ground.
"Simulation Terminated. Simulation Terminated. Simulation Terminated. Simulation Terminated. Simulation Terminated.," The voice on the PA system said. The robot deactivated, and reset to it's original position. The monster backed up a few feet as one of the walls rose up.
"All right, Mr. Bile, is it?" Ms. Flint said
"Uh, my friends call me, Phlegm," The blue monster told her.
"Uh-huh. Mr. Bile, can you tell me what you do wrong?" Ms. Flint asked the scarer trainee.
"I fell down," Mr. Bile said, although it sounded like a question than a statement.
"No, no," Ms. Flint told him, "Before that," She swirled her chair around and threw her arms in the air, saying, "Can anyone tell me Mr. Bile's mistake. Anyone?"
The three trainees all had blank and clueless faces.
Ms. Flint groaned and spun her chair back around. She twisted one of the nobs on the control panels for the simulator and said, "Let's take a look at the tape. Here we go. Uh, right-buh, buh, buh, buh,-Ah there. See? The door. You left it wide open."
All the trainees went 'Oh' and the ones in their seats wrote down notes. "And leaving the door open is the worst mistake any employee can make because-"
"Um, it could let in a draught?" He asked.
Mr. Waternoose's voice said, "It could let in a child!" Mr. Waternoose stepped out of the darkness.
"Oh, Mr. Waternoose!" Ms. Flint said in surprise. The trainees in their chairs gasped.
"There's nothing more toxic or deadly than a human child," Mr. Waternoose told all the trainees. "A single touch could kill you," Mr. Waternoose told them.
Mr. Bile took a few steps away from the robot child.
Mr. Waternoose continued to talk, "Leave a door open and a child could walk right into this factory, Right into the monster world!"
The yellow monster with three eyes spoke and said frantically, "I won't go into a kid's room!, You can't make me!" He jumped into the green monster's arms beside him.
"You're going in there, because we need this," Mr. Waternoose said, picking up a canister with a child's screams. He turned the latch on the canister and a child's scream filled the room, making the lights flicker with energy.
When Mr. Waternoose sealed the canister shut again, he continued, "Our city is counting on you to collect those children's screams," Mr. Waternoose told the trainees, "Without screams, We have no power. Yes, it's dangerous work, and that's why I need you to be at your best," Mr. Waternoose said, "I need scarers who are confident, tenacious, tough, imitating. I need scarers like-like," He then smiled.
"Samantha and James P. Sullivan."