It was a warm and windy night. I left my window open
and the breeze blew back my thin curtains. Did I stir because of the noises
they made moving along the sideboards? Possibly. The weights located in the hem
of the curtains might have bounced against the wall with a thud.
Who am I kidding? Blame it on my curtains and the
wind, but really it was the dream. Or, should I say, the nightmare. The same
one I have had every night for weeks. I merely woke myself up before it got
worse. I knew what was coming, yelling out, “Go away! Go away now!”
I glanced over at the clock, 12:07, and sighed. Am I
doomed to be up all night and draggy at school tomorrow? Normally, I am out
like a rock on Sunday nights having run myself silly all weekend, but things
were starting to change. Why not this, too?
Settling back into bed, I heard my name being called
out ever so gently, Conor.
Was it mom? She had started her third set of
treatments. Did she need my help? Conor.
There it was again, but it sounded like it came from
the window. Was it those darn curtains? Conor!
That was not mom nor the curtains. In two whole steps,
I was away from the bed and looking out the window. No one below and no one in
the surrounding field, I looked up at the church on the hill.
Silhouetted by flickering moonbeams, the scene
looked unreal. The cemetery with its tumbled headstones were like misshaped
teeth in an old woman’s mouth. The lone yew tree swayed with the wind as it
whipped around the trunk picking up the lower branches like a twirling
skirt.
Then I saw it. Staring into the yew, filled with poisonous
berries, I saw a face staring back at me. The tree gathered its limbs and in a
burst threw them out into the shapes of arms. The trunk, stretching towards the
moon, made a cracking noise as it split at the base and the roots began to
upend earth. It was moving and towards me!
I am 13-years-old. Too old to believe in monsters,
but that is all this yew could be.
“A Monster Calls” by Patrick Ness is the perfect
read-aloud for children ages eight and older. Do you have the grandchildren for
the weekend? It will take three to five readings to finish. Picture a windy
night with the moon ducking in and out of the clouds and you reading to
everyone by the flickering campfire. Ah, the joys of summer.
3 comments:
Thanks for the recommendation. I own this book and I never thought to read it to my kids. I'll give it a try.
Yay! Vasilly, I have been reading it to my grown husband! ;D
Well, better back up Vasilly! His mom dies and this is a very traumatic story. :( Might better read it first!
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