The Friend under the Bed

A Children’s Story by Joseph Razon

(Very gently) edited and illustrations by Annie Kiyonaga

Timmy was never really scared by the idea of monsters. He would hear about how big and scary they could be, but it never gave him fear. And perhaps this lack of fear is what led him to his best friend.

One night, when Timmy was just a young boy, he was trying to go to sleep but couldn’t because many thoughts and imaginings  kept him up, as they often did. But on this night, while in profound contemplation, he heard a deep and mysterious voice coming from underneath his bed. The grumbling noises would be enough to scare a normal child right beneath his blanket, but Timmy only got more curious. He ventured over the side of his bed and slowly lowered his head to a point where he could gaze underneath his bed. And there he saw, lying motionless, a monster. 

As Timmy blinked at the creature, the creature blinked back with his one big eye. From head to toe, the monster was covered in dark purple hair. Two small but sharp horns jetted out the top of the monsters head. And besides the fact that the monster was quite big, the only other thing that Timmy could make out was a single fang sticking out of his wide mouth.

​As the monster gazed at Timmy, the boy simply smiled and asked the monster if he wanted to come out. The monster had never had someone greet him with such hospitality. He could sense the boy’s lack of fear, and this peaked his interest; but he would not come out from under the bed. Timmy realizing this, decided to lay back onto his bed and talk to the monster from there. For hours they talked. Timmy and the monster shared so many thoughts that until then, Timmy had kept in his own head. After that night, Timmy and the monster would become best friends.

​For a few years Timmy and the monster would share bedtime together. It was the best part of Timmy’s day. It was the one time he felt like he could talk to someone and just be himself. But as the years went on, Timmy changed. He began to shift the way he was in order to align better with the other kids. He started to dress like them, talk like them, and think like them. Eventually, Timmy completely forgot about the monster under the bed. As Timmy became an adolescent and grew up, he begun to have more friends; but no longer was his former self. He graduated school. He left his parents place to live on his own. He left his young self behind. And he left his bed.

​He would go on to do many things and have many types of relationships. He became wildly successful and many people looked up to him with envy for all that he had accomplished. But this would not last. A series of unfortunate events led Timmy to lose almost everything he had, his job, his wife, his home. With nothing left, he moved back to his parents place, and he, once again, lay on his old bed. Thoughts rushed through his mind about where he went wrong and what was the reason behind all that happened to him. After a long night with no answers, he finally began to fall asleep. And right before he slipped into sleep, a hairy hand grabbed his own. With tears flowing down his cheeks and all the memories rushing back, Timmy whispered to the monster, “I missed you.” The monster replied,

“I was always here.”

Joseph Razon

September 13, 2025