Almost everyone had their own tickle monster growing up, could have been your mother, father, older sibling, hell even your uncle and aunts. They’d chase you around yelling “tickle monster” as they swooped in for your sides. My father did the same thing, we played that game for years but I never considered him my tickle monster, that title belongs to Hairy the troll.
I would be in a pitch-black room, laying on the ground. Suddenly the 2ft green skin troll walks in with his brimmed velvet hat, long nose, tattered clothes, and long dangly arms with twitching fingers. I’d be lying there paralyzed in fear as Hairy descended. Even though the pain bore into my sides I would always scream. Tears streaming down my face, I just needed it to end but Hairy was relentless. This happened nightly for years and he wouldn’t go away.
I should explain who Hairy was. Hairy was the household troll, he was a 2ft stuffed figurine that my father picked up during a work trip to Germany. I’m not sure why it gave me recurring nightmares like that as a child but I know now that there must be a reason because he’s back. A few weeks ago is when it all started again.
I was having a housewarming party at my new house when my father handed me my then-wrapped box. I opened it up and my jaw dropped, in the box was Hairy the Troll. The flooding of my childhood fear ran through me but I had to shake it off. I was 22 now, I couldn’t be scared of a doll, boy was I wrong. I thanked him and just tried to enjoy the rest of my party but always kept Hairy in my eyesight. After the party I shoved him away in storage so he was out of my mind, I just should have not taken him.
That night was when the nightmares begin again. It was the exact same, me paralyzed in a dark room with Hairy’s long arms tickling my sides. I woke up with a fright and went to check if he was still where I left him, thankfully he was. The realism of these dreams are so intense. I must have been subconsciously tickling myself in my sleep because the bruises littered where those twitching fingers had touched me.
My psych was taking a tremendous toll the next few days as more bruises materialized making my midsection tender and raw. Each time I slept I was met with these unrelenting nightmares. After the fourth day, I decided I had enough and threw out Hairy because I could not take it anymore. I went to bed that night with the hope I could get a full night of fitless sleep.
I woke up again after my nightly dance with Hairy, cursing that it would not end. I grabbed my phone to look at the time when my eyes drifted towards the date. For two whole days I had slept, not believing it I got up to go check my laptop downstairs. Before I even made it to my bedroom door I trip smacking into the wall. I looked behind me and there laying on the floor was Hairy, who was turned facing me with a grin. I freaked out grabbing him and throwing him in the backyard before confirming the fact that I had slept that long.
I called my sister to try and wrap my head around the events that have taken place. She started to apologize for not being able to come to my party, but I cut her off. I asked her if she remembered Hairy, and she did but then she told me something I can not begin to fathom. She and my brother had destroyed Hairy when they had been teenagers because of the nightmares he gave me. It had worked and that is when they stopped when I was younger. With a piece of mind that this could end, I hung up the phone and went to destroy my demon. I never once thought of how he was still whole now, it was stupid of me in hindsight.
I grabbed a shovel and began pounding the ever-loving shit out of it. Pieces flew off in all directions and as much as the bruising on my sides hurt I persevered in decimating him. For extra satisfaction, I burned the corpse to ash. I was at peace figuring I was done with all this nonsense.
Unfortunately, when I woke up this morning, Hairy stood there, towering over me as if watching me sleep. I have thrown him outside again but as I looked at my phone it has been a week since I went to sleep. I am writing this because I do not know what is happening, am I insane? Have any of you ever heard of this? I don’t know what to do and I am at a loss, the bruises have begun to bleed and I think he may put me in a coma or even kill me if this keeps up. For now, there is a lot of coffee in my future so hopefully, I can stay awake.