12 January 2026, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2980: not another monster
“Listen, I need us to let the monsters know that it wasn't safe around here with just Papa, but now with your Grandma Jubilee, it's really not safe, so they need to stop going bump in the night, come out from under the bed, and get outta here.”
Seven-year-old Amanda Ludlow was on a mission, and eight-year-old Gracie Trent understood why.
“Yep, the monsters can definitely find a safer place to be – you forgot y'all's Cousin Harry.”
“Oh, gosh – they need to RUN, NOW!” Amanda said. “I mean, I know they are monsters, but monsters are people too, and –.”
Capt. R.E. and Mrs. Thalia Ludlow had to leave eavesdropping to go laugh.
“But where was the lie, though?” Mrs. Ludlow said to her husband later on.
“Monsters are people too – Amanda understands a lot more than she knows she understands, and she is completely right – the way that poor boy Charles got up and out of there before he could even get a little bit monstrous!”
“Let's go hear the rest of this,” Mrs. Ludlow said, and they tuned back in.
“And then there's Edwina,” Gracie was saying.
Amanda put her head in her hands.
“By the time she finishes breaking bad, those monsters will be running down the street like Glendella's 'Bad Grandma' – in a way, she's more scary than any of these adults because they are at least big, but Eddie is walking through the world as proof that big things can come in small packages and break bad like a Jack-in-the-box with maybe two or three million sticks of dynamite attached, and then –.”
Capt. and Mrs. Ludlow had to retreat again.
“They wouldn't even survive Amanda!” Mrs. Ludlow said between giggles. “These monsters better get out of Lofton County while they can!”
“Not another monster, vanquished from broken ribs from laughter at this sweet little baby girl trying to save them!” Capt. Ludlow said as he handed his wife one handkerchief while wiping his own tears from laughing with the other.