Читать книгу Real Monsters, Gruesome Critters, and Beasts from the Darkside - Brad Steiger - Страница 60

Martha was another who learned as a child that hiding “under the bed” might not be the safest place to hide while playing hide and seek:

I was at my friend’s house for a party, and we were in her basement just having a good time. Then, my friend decided we should all play a game of “hide and seek” in the pitch-black darkness.

I had no objection; in fact, I had fun doing these types of things. So then we shut all the lights off and began. I was picked to be “it.” I could hear all my friends scurry off into various nooks while I fumbled around after the muffled noises. I searched for a long time. I had looked everywhere—except for one room … an especially dark room. It was my last resort. My friends had to be there.

Martha immediately began to pull back her hand, but it was stopped. Something grabbed her arm! It started to pull her under the bed (art by Ricardo Pustanio).

I started to walk down the hallway, feeling against the walls. I entered the doorway, and I had this amazingly bad feeling in my stomach. I felt like going into the room would just be horrible, but as uncertain as I was feeling, I did it anyway.

I walked in and discovered that this room was a spare bedroom. I knew there was a bed, and I assumed my friends were underneath it and ready to freak me out. So I thought, “Better just get it over with… .”

I reached under the bed and began to feel around a bit. That’s when it happened. This enormous spark occurred under the bed. I could see its brightness. And it was loud, too. The shock vibrated through my whole body.

I immediately began to pull back my hand, but it was stopped. Something grabbed my arm! It started to pull me under the bed. Luckily, I was able to retrieve control of my arm and ran from the room. I screamed for my friends and they popped out and turned on the lights.

And they did NOT come from the room. They came from the totally other side of the basement, and there was no way they could have sneaked past me. We went back to the room, flipped the lights on and checked under the bed. NOTHING.