Every night, Vera woke her mom and dad with her screams.
“There’s a monster in my closet,” she’d say.
They’d turn on the lights, show her there was nothing there.
They thought it would pass; it didn’t. They’d wake to her sobbing in the hallway.
“He says he’s coming for me,” she’d sob.
They’d carry her to bed, screaming and kicking.
One night her sleep-deprived dad couldn’t take it anymore. He locked her in the closet.
“Face your fear,” he said.
When she stopped screaming, he opened it up.
Vera was gone.