He had always been a nervous child.
People thought it was strange that he wanted to spend so much time indoors. Nobody understood his preference for staring out from his bedroom window on the second floor. He had a good view from there. He would sit, looking down at the kids playing in the park that backed onto their house. He could watch as people walked dogs, children ran around kicking a ball or just chasing one another. He really liked the dry, sunny weather because it guaranteed that there would be plenty of activity down there. He was looking down when, as had happened in the past, he suddenly felt the urge to join them.
He got up and walked towards the door.
Once again, the invisible thing beneath his bed, the thing that he couldn’t tell anybody about, stirred.
It whispered yet again, “You really need to stay in. You’re safe with me.”
After a moment’s hesitation, he went back to his chair by the window, and watched…