Kiss Your Child Goodnight

The town had only one rule: kiss your child goodnight.

It was set in place ever since the incident of little Ava Green, by which every parent made certain to never let the sun set on a child without a kiss. But little Johnny Brown hadn’t a mother to obey such a pivotal rule, and his father was off to war.

“Goodnight, Keke,” whimpered a small voice from beneath faded Power Ranger blankets. Cousin Kiara never kissed him goodnight because, well, she wasn’t his mother and, having no such obligation, hadn’t given it much thought. But little Johnny thought she should offer one anyway; maybe it would still work.

“Goodnight, sweetie,” she said, flicking off the light before gently pulling the bedroom door shut.

Johnny peeked his head out from beneath the covers. His grip around Buzz Lightyear was almost enough to snap the space ranger in half. Though moonlight spilled through open blinds, he could still hardly see a thing as his eyes searched every corner of the room. He thought about little Ava Green and what happened to her. He remembered seeing her face on the news and remembered, too, asking Cousin Kiara if the things that happened to little Ava Green would happen to him as well. His mind filled with all the awful things that happened when the rule was broken, realizing if only he had a mother, he wouldn’t need to pray so desperately for his father to come home.

His eyes landed on the closet door, and his breath caught in his throat when he noticed it cracked open. “Keke,” whispered Johnny, trying to call for help. But the word barely escaped his lips, falling flatly to the floor.

A flash of lightning swallowed the room, revealing something terrible among the hangers and the coats before darkness reclaimed it once again. Little knees knocked together until even the bed frame seemed nervous.

“Who—who’s there?” he asked.

Thunder boomed against the house as rain beat dreadfully against the window. Another flash, and nothing but coats hung lazily behind the door. He was sure he saw something, and the next clap of thunder sent him diving beneath the bed.

“Keke,” he whispered again, but even his voice was afraid to go out there all alone.

If his mother were there, she would hold him against her breast, sing sweet lullabies, and read grand stories about magical lands and wizards. He would ask her how many stars filled the sky, why the sun hurt his eyes, and whether he could become a Power Ranger when he grew up—the red one. He would ask her if they could eat macaroni and cheese in bed together, since Daddy never let him, and whether she could bake it instead, since Daddy’s mac ‘n’ cheese hadn’t been very cheesy before he went off to war. Maybe war taught people how to make it better. 

At least, that’s how Johnny imagined having a mother. 

He couldn’t quite remember what she was like or whether he ever had one at all. Daddy said everyone had a mother and that Johnny’s lived somewhere inside his heart. Too bad she never came out to sing to him or smother his face with kisses. Then he could be like the other children in town, swinging their mothers’ hands as they walked home from preschool before being kissed goodnight. 

Maybe little Ava Green’s mother lived inside her heart too. Maybe she never came out either.

A little plastic arm, signaling the mighty Buzz Lightyear, slid out from beneath the bed while little fingers squeezed the trigger to the space ranger’s arm laser. “Pew! Pew!” whispered little Johnny. A tiny red dot darted across the room and into the closet. “Pew! Pew!” he whispered again. “Don’t let it get us, Buzz.”

He felt a bit braver now, hiding behind the courage of the space ranger until something horrid knocked against the window.

Tap

Tap

Tap. He nearly peed his pajamas.

Tap

Tap

Tap. The awful thing beckoned from outside.

From underneath the bed, little Johnny couldn’t see who or what waited just beyond the glass. His stomach twisted into knots as he thought of what it could be, and whether it was the thing that grabbed little Ava Green. Under the glowing moonlight, a crooked shadow stretched longer and longer across the bedroom floor, reaching toward him with long, bony fingers. Whatever grabbed little Ava Green…HE WAS NEXT!

Johnny screamed as he dashed for his dresser. With his back pressed against it, he slid to the floor, both hands clamped over his mouth while his little chest rose and fell with every panicked breath.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap. Went the thing behind the window.

“Keke,” he tried calling out again, but the word bounced against his trembling hands and fell back into his mouth. He wondered why his father had to leave; why he couldn’t have taken him along. Surely war couldn’t be scarier than whatever wanted him tonight. It couldn’t be scarier than—

Wait.

Where was Buzz?

He fumbled through the darkness looking for his astronaut friend. “Buzz?” he whispered, his heart like gunfire against his ribs.

Peeking around the edge of the dresser, he spotted the space ranger lying helplessly in the middle of the floor. Johnny whipped his head back behind the dresser, biting down on his fist. On the count of three he would rescue Buzz. He had to. Neither one of them had a parent to keep the rule. They only had each other.

“One,” whispered little Johnny, his leg shaking like a leaf. “Two,” he said with a bead of sweat racing down his brow. “Three.”

On hands and knees, little Johnny crawled across the floor, ever so vigilant and focused. Like a frightened cat creeping into the unknown, he inched closer, trembling so badly he could hardly keep a steady pace. 

“Don’t be scared, Buzz,” he whispered. “I won’t let it get you.” And there he was, just a little bit farther as Johnny stretched out his hand, his fingers brushing Buzz’s space boot.

“Keke,” a voice called out in a whisper.

Johnny froze in place, his eyes gazing into the dark beneath his bed. That voice was not his own.

“Hel-lo?” he replied. His bones were Jell-O now, little eyes brimming with tears.

“KEKE!” it shrieked.

A clap of thunder sent little Ava Green inches from his face, wild-eyed, with mud-streaked matted hair, dripping dirty rainwater beneath her.

Cousin Kiara slammed the telephone on the hook when she heard a shrill scream come from little Johnny’s room. She kicked open the door, eyes flashing this way and that as she gripped a wooden baseball bat. “Johnny what’s wrong!? Who’s there!?” she said, threatening, eyes scanning the room. She found Johnny cradled against the dresser in a fetal position, rocking, crying, squeezing tightly to his Buzz Lightyear toy. “Oh baby, what’s the matter? What happened?” She asked, running to his aid. 

“She’s trying to get me.” He sobbed. “She’s trying to get me!” He pointed to the girl beneath his bed. 

Thunder cracked and lightning flashed, but there was nothing except stray socks and a race car. When Cousin Kiara flicked on the light, she only saw Legos and an unfinished puzzle beneath the bed along with them. There was no girl. There was no little Ava Green.

“Oh honey, you must’ve been having a bad dream or thought you saw something. There’s no one there. Look.” Johnny trembled with his head between his knees, refusing to look up. He was soaked through and through, sitting in a small yellow puddle. “Oh, my poor baby,” Cousin Kiara sighed. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Little Johnny stared into the water and couldn’t stop shaking, even as the bath ran warm.

“You know, Johnny, I just got off the phone with Daddy.”

He sat, still trembling, looking up hopefully. 

“You—you did?”

“Mhmm,” Cousin Kiara hummed, with a single nod. “He said he misses you and wishes he could’ve taken you with him, but that he’s so proud of how brave you are.

“He said there are a lot of scary monsters where he’s at, and he wishes he was as brave as you, so he could face them all.” She took the soap-soaked washcloth and wiped it gently across his forehead.

“Daddy thinks I’m brave?”

“Daddy thinks you’re the bravest.”

“Even braver than Buzz?”

“Mhmm,” she said, squeezing warm water from the cloth over his neck and chest.

“But, I was so scared.”

Cousin Kiara took his face in her hand, gently squeezing his little brown cheeks. “Being brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. It means fighting and protecting others even when you are scared, just like Daddy.

"When I came into your room, you were holding Buzz close to your heart, keeping him safe. You know what that’s called?” His eyes sparkled as he looked into hers. “Brave!”

She wiped tear-streaked stains from his face with the warm damp cloth.

Johnny smiled.

“He also told me to give you something very important.” She kissed him on his forehead, then again on his cheek. “One from Daddy, and one from me. We both love you, and even the brave deserve a kiss.”

He was still now, and calm now, and, for a moment, sure he heard his mother’s voice somewhere in his heart. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to sleep in my room tonight?” Cousin Kiara asked, tucking him beneath his faded Power Rangers covers.

“I’m sure. I’m the bravest, remember?”

Cousin Kiara laughed. “Alright, my little brave one. Keep Buzz safe tonight, okay? He needs you.” Johnny nodded.

“Goodnight, sweetie,” she said, flicking off the light and gently pulling the door shut.

Little Johnny kissed Buzz on his plastic head. “Even the brave deserve a kiss, Buzz.”

Across the room, the closet door still hung open. Thunder roared, lightning flashed, and for an instant, a face appeared among the hangers and coats before vanishing back into the shadows. “Don’t worry, Buzz, nothing can get us now.” He turned his back to the closet, faced the window where branches tap, tap, tapped against the glass, and shut his eyes.

Before long, under the gleam of the midnight moon, a grin curled along little Johnny’s cheek as he drifted softly off to sleep.