So this daily, or rather, nightly ritual lasted for a solid five years, until I was seven. It was a staple in my nighttime schedule, and I couldn’t sleep comfortably without it.

However, as I aged, my fear of these so-called monsters dwindled until it was no longer there.
Monsters didn’t exist, I came to believe, and even if they did, they would not occupy the floor below my bed. It was a logical conclusion, or so I thought.

But then as each new year approached, so did responsibilities, pressures, and loneliness. People were cruel, in fact, I was guilty of this cruelty as well.