What to do... what to do.... Olivia had been perched on the large old window seat, which did double duty as a toy box. The window box's contents only moments before had growled an ugly growl and scratched and growled again. She knew if she moved, whatever it was that was in there could get out. She also knew that if she didn't....

This was more than an eight-year-old could take, she thought.

She heard Kay's screams echoing down the hallway going largely ignored by the rest of the household.

In every home there is always a screamer; Kay was one of the best, and in the Jackson Parish Home for Girls there was always something to scream about.

Not because the huge old plantation that had eventually become the Home was ancient, mind you. Or because it was near the damp and silent cemetery that slept next to the old church. Or because the church with its pretty little vicarage and great rambling orphanage were nestled beneath all those acres of moss laden oaks, deep in the back woods.

No. There was simply something different about this house, regardless of how nicely it was maintained, something very different. Not even the rose lined lawn with its splashes of red, yellow, and white roses that the Vicar kept neatly trimmed, or the pretty white chapel nearby with its colorful stained glass window of St. Michael, could cover the fact that something was just - not - right about this house.

"GRRRRR," s-c-r-a-t-c-h, s-c-r-a-t-c-h, s-c-r-a-t-c-h!

The window box shook violently.

Olivia, known for her deep thinking, but not for her bravery, jumped up and screamed "MONSTERS!" as she followed Kay's echoing voice down the hall.

Olivia tried to run as fast as she could, but like a dream, the hall seemed to stretch longer and longer and the bedroom shared by Carol and Mary at the end of the hall seemed a million miles away.

She didn't dare look back or even listen back. She just kept all of her attention on reaching that bedroom. Finally, it was within her reach, when SSLLAAMMM. The door shut in her face.

Olivia had huge brown eyes that looked even bigger now in proportion to her small frame. Small didn't really describe Olivia. She was downright tiny, with long, stringy dark hair and a voice that could be heard in the next county. Somehow she couldn't find that voice. Her eyes said it all. On the inside of the room, Kay was frantically telling what had just gone on, to two of her house-mates.

Carol, not being the brightest, replied "What do you mean, monster?"

Mary answered "You know... large, hairy or sometimes slimy beasts of unknown origin, usually with very large teeth and a known appetite for small, mostly stupid children."

Mary was the smart one... very smart... too smart. This excess of brain power left her little or no room for imagination.

"Oh," said Carol, in a small voice.

Mary continued, "And just how did a monster of the size and ferocity that you just described...."

"What's ferocity?" asked Carol.

"Aggressiveness," said Mary.

"What's agressi...?"

Mary explained as simply as she could, "How mean it is."

"How mean is it?"

"It's mean! Real mean!" cried Kay.

"When you say mean, what exactly do you mean?"

"Would you stop interrupting!," shouted Mary.

The room quieted and Mary continued calmly, "As I was saying, how did this monster get into that little window box?"

Suddenly, from just outside the door of the room, "Let me in! Let me in!"

"It's the Monster!" cried Carol. "Run for your life."

Kay, of course, started to scream. Kay had a very nervous nature, best expressed by screaming. She was of medium build, and had already started experimenting with makeup. This tended to give her already pale complexion a ghostly, washed out look, and along with her talent for screaming, made her a leading contender for stardom in horror films.

"Let's get a good look at this thing," Mary replied and she swung the door open to a stunned Olivia.

"It's horrible," yelled Carol.

"I am?" replied Olivia. "I mean, I am not!"

Kay pulled Olivia through the bedroom door and slammed it shut. The girls all started talking at once.

"Did you see it? Does it slither?"

"What did it look like? Does it drool?"

"Did it try to eat you?"

"Girls, please," Mary said, "The problem is not that we have a monster. The problem is, how do we get rid of the monster."

"We?!?" They all yelled at once.

"I thought you didn't believe in monsters?" asked Kay.

"Yeah, well, we haven't had a good monster around here in... we... we've never had a good monster around here."

"What about Miss Ida?" said Kay.

To which Mary replied, "Miss Ida slithers, but hardly ever drools."

Miss Ida is the church Matron. Very prim and proper, with her starched white hair piled neatly into a tight bun, on top of her starched white head.

Several layers of makeup tried to disguise Miss Ida's unknown years. The only thing that can be said about Miss Ida, is that she had zero patience for kids.

"I say it's time we move," said Mary.

"Great, I'll pack my things," said Olivia.

"No, I mean move... take action... hunt this monster down."

They all stopped.

"The way I see it is like this. We get it... or it gets us... at night... in the dark... in our sleep!"

Kay screamed.