Toe

by Naomi H
(Atlanta, GA, USA)

It was a hot day. Just like any other day. Bobby's family lived out in Arizona, in a small town. They lived at the edge of town. The nearest house was 4 miles away from them. Bobby didn't mind being that far away, he never had many friends. The other kids in town always made fun of him. He had a very big imagination, and it usually got him in trouble. Well, his curiosity usually got him in trouble, too. One day he learned the hard way that curiosity isn't always a good thing.


Bobby's dad had been fired from his job a week ago. His parents were having a tough time putting food on the table. Lately, they were getting a little desperate. Bobby was out just digging around. It was his favorite thing to do. He decided to go out further than he usually did. He looked around and found a good spot to start. About 30 minutes later, the hole was about up to his knees, and he hit something with his shovel. He looked down, and saw something sticking up from the sand. Instead of just leaving it alone, he tried to pull it out. He pulled and pulled, when it finally came out with a pop. And that's when he heard it.


"Where's my toe?"


Was he just imagining it? Nah, he thought, probably just the wind. The kids in town are right. My imagination is gonna make me crazy. He shrugged it off, and ran home to his mom.


"Momma! Momma! Look at what I found!!" He showed his mother what he found and she picked it up.


"It looks like a turnip or a potato. Good job Bobby, we'll have it for dinner." Bobby felt really proud. He finally did something right.


Later that evening his dad came back from town. His dad has been trying to find another job. Today he had been successful. He had found a job at the lumber mill. While talking about what happened today, they calmly ate that turnip/potato that Bobby had found. After dinner they watched TV for a while. Then Bobby heard it again, "Where's my toe?", but yet again it sounded like a whisper. He shook his head. Just my imagination, just my imagination...


"Bobby time to go to bed", his mother said. He said goodnight, and went to bed. He laid there under the covers thinking about the voice that only he seemed to hear. His parents hadn't even looked around to see where it came from. Maybe it's from being in the sun all day long. His parents also went to bed about 5 minutes later. As usual, they left the light on in the hallway. He was almost asleep when he heard it again, but this time it was louder and it seemed to be coming from right under his window.


"Where's my toe?!" Bobby got really scared, and so he hid under his covers. He heard how whatever was outside his window started climbing the porch steps. He heard the wood creak under the weight of it. It slowly mad its way over the door. He heard the screen door squeal as they opened. The door opened, and then it slammed shut again.


"Where's MY TOE?!!" slowly he heard footsteps heading through the kitchen, a chair scraped against the floor. The footsteps finally reached the stairs. Every time a foot came down he heard a THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. Bobby lay frozen underneath his covers. He could hear it coming down the hallway. And then they stopped.


Bobby counted to 10, and the footsteps still hadn't returned. He decided to take a peak from underneath his covers. He peaked over and looked at the doorway. There it was. It looked something like a bear standing on his hind legs. Its hair looked greenish. He had sharp teeth that he was showing. But to Bobby's surprise, he started heading over to his parents' room. He heard screaming, but then it stopped. He heard footsteps coming again. He listened as they came closer and closer to him. And then they stopped again. He waited. He waited for something to happen, but nothing did. 10 minutes went by when Bobby finally decided to take a look again. Maybe it left. He slowly pushed the covers away, and he found himself looking straight at the monster.


"WHERE"S MY TOE?!!!!" He sniffed the air, and he smiled.


"YOU'VE GOT IT!!"


(When reading this story to someone else, grab the nearest person to you as you say the last line.)