Dracula's Closet

© B R Murphrey 1986. All Rights Reserved.

Illustration from childrens story DRACULAS CLOSET by B R Murphrey original artwork also by the author Dracula lives in my closet. No one believes me but he really does.

One night I saw him sneaking out of my closet. He had on white gloves and shiny black shoes. He frightened me so badly that the hair on top of my heard stood up like porcupine quills.

"Mommy, help!" I screamed. Mommy rushed into my room with that white stuff all over her face. At first, I thought she was a ghost. She scared me almost as much as Dracula.

Her lips looked very red against her white face. Maybe I thought, Dracula got to her. Then she said "What is wrong, Michael?" and I knew she was my Mom.

"I saw Dracula." I whispered.

"You were dreaming." She smiled. "Go back to sleep." She kissed me and got that white stuff on my nose. Yuck!

I was almost asleep when he whispered in my ear. "She is gone." The he tried to bite my ear. "Mommy! Mommy!" I threw the blanket over my head and held my hands over my ears.

"What is it, Darling?" My Mother asked as she pulled the blanket back. I sat up and looked around the room. Dracula was gone.

"He was here!"

"Who was here?" Mom asked.

Pen and Ink Illustration from childrens bedtime story DRACULAS CLOSET by B R Murphrey original artwork also by the author "Dracula." I could see she did not believe me, but I went on "Honest, Mom he was....Here! I bet he is hiding in my closet. Please, look."

She had that don't be silly look on her face but she opened the closet door and looked inside. "There is no one here, Michael." She said firmly.

"Look behind my clothes." I begged.

"There is nothing here." She told me sternly as she pulled back my clothes so that I could see for myself. "Now, you go back to sleep."

As soon as the door closed behind her, the closet door opened and Dracula in a black cloak came out. He grinned at me. His teeth were long and white.

"Go away!" I yelled. I climbed on top of my bookcase. I knocked off a book. It made a loud noise as it fell.

"Michael, this is your last warning. Settle down and go to sleep!"

"That was my Dad. You better go or you will be in big trouble." I whispered but Dracula just smiled.

Illustration from childrens story DRACULAS CLOSET by B R Murphrey story to help kids deal with nightmares and things that go bump in the night At that moment my mother came into the room. "Michael, stop all this nonsense and go to sleep." "We have to get up early in the morning." She did not see Dracula. He slipped behind her and into the closet without making a sound. Not many people can fool Mom but I am not sure that Dracula is a real person.

"Mom, he was here again. He just went behind you into the closet."

She opened the closet door, and sighed. "Get down from there and look for yourself."

I climbed down from the bookcase and went to look. There was no sign of him.

"Michael, I know it is fun to pretend but this has gone too far. Next time you see him, I want you to pretend he is not there. Monsters do not live where they are not noticed. I will leave the light on so you can see better. Now, no more noise tonight." She tucked me back into bed and went out.

She was barely out of the room when he returned. I saw the closet door knob move and I knew he was back. Dracula giggled as he peeped around the closet door. "You are stuck with me now, Michael."

"I am not! I will pretend you away."

"Go ahead!" He sat down in my chair and tucked his cloak around him.

I closed my eyes and repeated a hundred times, "Dracula does not exist."

He was still sitting in my chair when I opened my eyes. I closed them again and tried harder. When I opened them again he was playing with my airplane.

I threw my pillow at him. He ate the feathers. Finally, I gave up and went to sleep. The last thing I remembered was him cleaning his teeth with my tooth brush.

The next morning all signs of him were gone. So was my pillow. I knew he would be back.

"I hope you are not going to start all that business about Dracula tonight." Mom said as she kissed me good-night the next night.

"No." I promised her. I knew she would not believe me if I told her he had spent the night in my room. As soon as she left, the closet door opened and Dracula came out with a magician hat on.

"Well, if it isn't my old friend, Michael." He pulled the chair up close to my bed and sat down. "Why don't you close your eyes and pretend me away?"

"How did you get in my closet." I asked.

"I have a secret sliding door," He said. "and I am the only one who knows how to open it."

I stared at him, and realized that I was not as afraid as I had been the night before. "Would you stop staring. I think it so rude to stare." He said.

That is when I got the idea. I wasn't sure it would work, but I watched him until my eyes felt like marbles. I was about to give up when his nose disappeared. Then it reappeared.

"Stop staring at me!" He begged. I didn't answer and his nose disappeared again. He blinked his eyes and said. " Be a good boy and go to sleep, Michael."

I just smiled and leaned toward him. "This is not funny, Michael. Stop staring!" At that moment his feet disappeared. "I am going to have to do something drastic, if you....." At that moment his face disappeared. "I am warning you, Michael!" His voice sounded far away.

Illustration from childrens story DRACULAS CLOSET by B R Murphrey night time story to help kids deal with the dark and other scarry stuff He was gone. Just like that he was gone. I waited for a long time but he did not come back. Finally, I fell asleep.

That was the last time I saw him, but sometimes late at night I hear noises coming from my closet. So to be safe I put my table, my chair, and my waste basket against the closet door.

I read somewhere that Dracula does not like water, so I keep a water bottle beside my bed. If he ever comes back I will squirt water on him.

The End of that Nightmare

AUTHOR'S NOTE: When my own son was a little boy he believed Dracula lived in his closet. Now he is grown. Dracula no longer lives in his closet. He made him leave. So can you.