The corner of my room is my favourite spot in the whole house. I sit there and listen to all my friends, Mary, an old lady, Gurgle, a big frog, Dogspot, well I can't see him, and my best friend of all, Sticks, he's like a dog, but he doesn't look like one, and he has a voice like no one I've ever met. Mary sings church songs late into the night, Gurgle likes to hop around my room in the morning, Dogspot whispers in my ear at school, telling me the wrong answers, and Sticks follows me around like a little puppy. I love him more the anything.


The day after my fourth birthday, my dad drove me, Sticks, and mom to the park. But we went to a special park in the next town. They had a pool, and a playground and swings! Mary wanted to come, but there was only room for one of my friends, and she came to the park last time, so she stayed home with Dogspot and Gurgle.

I went to the pool first, and me and daddy went swimming while mommy and Sticks sat in plastic chairs on the side. I didn't like the shorter part so I put on my water wings and dad brought me to the deep part. It was so much fun not being able to touch the bottom! I did get scared when dad moved away though!

After I dried off enough, mom put sunscreen all over me and then me and Sticks went to the swings, his favourite part. I put him in the baby one, and he sat with his feet through the holes for people legs and his head was on the rubber seat. I gave him a big push and then got mom to help me with my big-boy swing.

Dad surprised us with a picnic and we ate under a big tree that mom wouldn't let me climb. It was a really long day and me and Sticks fell asleep on the blanket.

When I woke up we were at home and dad was opening the door of the van for me. Stick wasn't in the car so I asked daddy where he was. He said he was already inside with mom.


I rubbed my eyes and went into our house. I looked around but didn't see Sticks anywhere.
Mom told me I could go play in my room before a bath. I went up to my room and knocked on my door to make sure Mary and Gurgle would let me in. sometimes, for fun, they would lock my door as a trick, so I'd knock and have to say the entire alphabet for them to unlock it.

They didn't say anything, so I opened the door. Mary wasn't sitting beside my window like she always does, and Gurgle wasn't bouncing anywhere.

I asked where they were all hiding but only Dogspot answered me. He said he wasn't feeling good and was taking a nap. I told him that was fine, but where were the others? He told me they were on their way. Gurgle was under my bed all of a sudden, and Mary was sitting at the window.

I asked Mary if she wanted to play hide and seek with me, because it was her favourite game to play inside. She wanted to hide first, so I started counting. Gurgle went to hide too.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14... 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100! Ready or not, here I come I shout out. I knew all of their best places to hide so I ran around my room looking. Gurgle wasn't under the bed or behind my cabinet. Mary wasn't in the closet or behind the curtains. They decided to hide around the house! I realized and went downstairs to find them. They liked to trick me sometimes.

After a long time of looking all over my mom asked what I was looking for. I told her I couldn't find Mary and Gurgle and it made me sad, because we were just playing a game. She said after my bath that she would help me look for them. I smile and ran to the bathroom. I was getting really sad because all my friends were gone, well except for Dogspot, who was asleep.

After I got dried off and put on my pyjamas, mom took me downstairs to get a glass of water before bed. Then I reminded mommy that Sticks Gurgle and Mary were still gone and I needed to find them! So she went to the basement, and I looked in the living room. I couldn't find them and mom said that she couldn't either.


Eventually dad went to take a shower and mom went to watch the news. Dad came to tuck me in and read me a story before I went to sleep. I was sad before going to sleep because usually Dogspot talks to me, telling me stories, as I'm fall asleep. Or Mary would sing a lullaby, or Gurgle would, well he never did anything, but Sticks would sleep right beside me. Now I couldn't find them. Anywhere.


I sat in bed, scared. I had had a nightmare and now I was seeing things in my room that were scarier. There was someone outside my window, tapping on the glass. There was a monster or something in the far corner, staring at me. When my head was against my pillow I could here someone walking outside, crunching the leaves. I pulled my blanket above my head, and curled up into a ball under the sheet. I started crying because I was scared, and all my friends were gone. Mary couldn't sing to make me feel better, Sticks couldn't scare everything away for me, Dogspot couldn't whisper to me that it would be OK, that I just needed to sleep, and Gurgle couldn't bounce around and take my mind away from everything scary.

I fell asleep under the blanket, but I had nightmares. An evil man had kidnapped my friends, and wasn't going to give them back to me, ever. Mom and dad were gone and I was alone in our house and the evil man was coming to get me next. I woke up crying and I was all sweaty from being under the hot sheet.

I took my blanket and went and sat in my favourite corner, hoping that maybe my friends would come back if they knew where I was. I pulled the blanket tight around me when I heard the high pitched sound coming from outside. The tapping on the window got faster, the man outside walked faster, the ground started shaking, I started crying and screaming for Sticks.

Then my daddy came into my room and ran over to my favourite corner. He picked me up and hugged me hard for a really long time. Then he laid me down in my bed, but I wouldn't let go of his shirt. I was so scared, but my dad made everything feel a little better. He got into the bed with me and I fell asleep with my face in his shirt, away from the man tapping on the window, away from the monster staring at me, and away from my nightmare.

When I woke up dad was still in my bed, asleep, and my face was still in his shirt. I pulled the sheet off and looked around my room. It was brighter outside and I could see what I saw last night. The monster was just my teddy bear, with light from the moon on his eyes. The man tapping at the window was just the tree hitting the glass. The whistling was just the wind. The man walking outside was just my ears.

My friends were still gone. Mary wasn't beside the window singing. I couldn't hear Dogspot anywhere. Gurgle wasn't bouncing. And Sticks wasn't at the end of my bed. The only one there was daddy, still asleep in my bed. I got back under my sheet and turned away from dad, then pulled his arm over me like a blanket. As long as Sticks or Mary or Dogspot or Gurgle weren't around, I knew I'd have daddy and mommy to keep me safe, to whisper in my ear like dad had, to tell me I just need to sleep, to sing me lullaby’s, to keep my mind away from the scary things. I knew they loved me, and I would be safe with them. I just wish I could've said goodbye to my best friend, Sticks.