January 5, 6:00 P.M.
I love finding coins next to my bed. It makes me so happy. I collect them in my tin box and count them over and over. Mommy and Daddy laughed when I told them about my coin fairy.
But I know the truth. Every night before I sleep, I hear strange noises from the walls. A wrinkly paw pushes coins out of a secret hole. I creep over pretending to sleep, and peek through the hole.
In the dark wall-space, I see the Wrinkly Monster. Wet whiskers and yellow claws clutching more coins. Greedy eyes shining at me through the hole. The monster knows I’m awake, and stares until I smile at my new coins. Then the monster grins, satisfied, and retreats into the darkness.
January 6, 7:00 P.M.
The coins keep coming. Shiny ones, gold ones, big round ones. I count faster, laugh louder. Mommy and Daddy beam with pride at my collection. The Wrinkly Monster lurks in the walls, watching me, feeding off my happiness.
January 7, 8:21 P.M.
More coins than ever now! The monster grows bolder, poking claws through the hole. I try hiding the coins but he sees and leaves none the next night. My happiness makes him strong.
January 9, 7:57 P.M.
Tonight, I will not smile. I will not count. The monster will peer through the hole and find no joy, no satisfaction. He will retreat, weak and forgotten. He will leave me, and my family, in peace.
I cover the tin box and climb into bed. The hole opens. A claw pushes through… I bite my lip and close my eyes. Be strong. Give him nothing.
A wet whisker touches my cheek. I feel the monster’s greedy stare. I try to speak but my face betrays me, lips turning up in a smile.
The monster lets out a hiss of triumph as my lips curl into a smile. I try to stop but my cheeks ache with the effort of holding back my grin.
The claw pries the tin box from under my bed and dumps the coins onto the floor. They spill and spill, more than should logically fit in the box. The monster makes noises of glee as he takes in my ever-growing collection.
I can’t help it - I laugh at the mound of treasure, thinking of all the toys and candy it could buy. The monster chortles gleefully, drinking in my joy like fine wine. My laughter grows louder as more coins appear, overflowing from the hole in the wall now.
The monster crawls out, mouthing ‘Thank you’ as he grows bigger and stronger from my happiness. His claws squeeze my shoulders, leeching the last drops of joy from my soul.
I fall silent as the monster releases me, bloated and content. He returns to his hole, whispering a final warning: “Keep smiling, little one. Keep laughing and collecting, and I shall grow fat and powerful. Deny me any longer and I shall wither away…and take you with me into the dark.”
The hole closes. I’m alone, my heart laden with stolen coins and cursed with the power to either feed or destroy the wrinkly monster in my walls. I climb into bed and curl up small, wondering how long I can nourish a demon before it devours me whole.
January 10, 8:30 P.M.
The monster greedily soaks up my laughter as the coins pile higher. He grows larger, his claws ripping holes in my walls as he squeezes through. My parents praise me for my “good fortune” but I feel only dread.
The coins are foul now, covered in slime. I no longer laugh as I count them but the monster demands it, threatening to trap me in the walls if I fail to amuse him. I force giggles, my heart turning cold.
I found the strength to refuse a coin. The monster screeched in fury, clawing at my leg till it bled. “Ungrateful boy!” he shrieked. “My coins keep you fed and clothed! Laugh, or I’ll feast on your bones!”
I laughed through the pain, tears turning to ice on my cheeks. The monster gorged on my false mirth till he waddled back to his hole, bloated and content once more.
As he pushes another rotten coin through the wall an hour later, an idea comes to me. I laugh and cheer, grabbing the coin and dancing around my room. The monster purrs, pushing through another. And another. Faster and faster, I collect them all.
When the pile is enormous, I grab a handful of coins and stuff them in the monster’s hole. He cackles, pushing more through - until they cover the hole completely. I stuff the last coin in, trapping the wretched creature in the dark.
Silence. The hole remains blocked. I laugh a real laugh then, rolling in my treasure as the monster’s muffled screams fade into nothingness.
The monster’s trapped screams soon turned to gibbering pleas for mercy, but I ignored him. I rolled in my treasure, laughing at the thought of the monster starving in the darkness.
But my glee was short-lived.
January 10, 1:00 A.M.
That night, as I slept, claws tore through my mattress and grabbed my ankle. I woke screaming as the monster dragged me toward the hole, hissing “If I must starve, then so shall you!”
I grabbed the bedframe, fighting with all my strength as the monster tried to pull me into the walls. The coins I had used to trap him spilled from the hole, falling around us in a choking shower of metal.
Summoning all my will, I kicked free of the monster’s grasp and grabbed a golden coin from the floor. With a wordless cry I plunged it into one of the monster’s yellow eyes.
The monster let out an unearthly shriek and released me, claws clutching at the coin embedded in his face. I grabbed another coin and stabbed it into his other eye, twisting it till black ichor poured out.
Blinded and raging, the monster lashed out, slashing deep gashes in my arms before retreating into the walls, letting out wild howls of pain and fury.
I collapsed onto my blood-soaked sheets, exhausted but alive. The hole in the wall remained open, spilling out coins that no longer brought me joy. I knew the monster would return, seeking vengeance. But I now had a weapon - one made of the very treasure he had used to trap me.
Gripping a fistful of coins, I waited for the wrinkled creature to emerge from the darkness once more.
February 1, 8:23 P.M.
Weeks passed and the monster did not return. The coins continued to appear but I ignored them, tending to my wounds as they slowly healed.
I told my parents what had happened. They didn’t believe me at first but then saw the holes torn in my mattress and sheets. My mother wept to think of the torture I’d endured. My father searched the walls for any sign of the monster but found nothing.
Life slowly returned to normal. I no longer smiled at the coins or counted them, leaving them in a pile by my bed. The monster’s evil had drained them of wonder.
April 6, 3:00 A.M.
Months passed and I almost forgot about the wrinkled creature. Then one night as I lay in bed, suddenly I heard whispers…
“Make me strong again.”
The hole in the wall opened. Two claws reached through, feeling blindly for treasure.
“Please,” the monster begged. “Let me feed once more. I will never harm you again, I swear!”
Rage filled me at his arrogant plea. I stomped on his claws, feeling them snap under my heel. The monster whimpered in pain but I showed no mercy.
“Never again will you feed on my happiness,” I said. “Go back to the darkness where you belong!”
The monster withdrew his broken claws, howling in defeat. The hole closed, never to open again.
I returned to my bed. Though coins still appear, I ignore them, leaving them to gather dust. For I have taken back what the monster stole - my joy, my smile, my life. The coins no longer hold power over me, nor the creature that sought to use them for evil. I am free.