Characters:

DR. SHEPHERD, a child psychiatrist.

ADRIAN JAMES, a 5-year-old boy who has nightmares.

MR. JAMES, Adrian's dad.

MRS. JAMES, Adrian's mom.

[All is dark and silent, except for the red numbers on an alarm clock which read 2:54 in the dark. A telephone rings, and a male voice groans as the lamp on the nightstand is turned on. We see a man with red hair and a goatee, dressed in pink boxers and a white undershirt. This is DR. SHEPHERD. He sits up in bed and picks the telephone up off the nightstand, holding it to his ear.]

DR. SHEPHERD: (tiredly) Hello?

[A panicked female voice is heard over the phone, with a small child screaming and crying from fear in the background]

MRS. JAMES: Dr. Shepherd, can you please come over as soon as you can?

[This seems to wake DR. SHEPHERD up more, he looks worried. Anyone can see that he is worried about whatever is happening]

DR. SHEPHERD: Is it Adrian? Another nightmare?

[DR. SHEPHERD presses the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he yanks on a pair of jeans and shoes, along with the doctor’s coat which is slung clumsily on a desk chair.]

MRS. JAMES: Yes! We can't console him! (said through sobs)

[As MRS. JAMES speaks through the phone, he goes to a filing cabinet in the corner and pulls out a file labeled ‘ADRIAN JAMES'. Two crayon drawings fall out of it, and for a split second before DR. SHEPHERD picks them up, the audience can see that they're a child's drawings of monsters. Signed in a messy scrawl in the corner of each is the name ‘Adrian']

DR. SHEPHERD: I'm on my way!

 [He hangs up the phone, grabs his wallet and car keys, and rushes out to his car.]

[The scene cuts to a larger house surrounded by a short fence. A man, MR. JAMES, is standing on the steps waiting for DR. SHEPHERD. As soon as he sees the car pull up, he rushes to it. DR. SHEPHERD gets out of the car, file under his arm.]

DR. SHEPHERD: (worried) Where’s Adrian?

MR. JAMES: (crying) Inside. With my wife. Thank you for coming, Doctor.

[The scene cuts. Now it's a little boy’s room, with a Snoopy night light still glowing on the bedside table. On the bed, we see a small boy, ADRIAN, being hugged and rocked by his mother, who is whispering to him.]

MRS. JAMES: (voice trembling) Shhh, it's okay baby, it was only a nightmare…

[DR. SHEPHERD enters the room, visibly worried for ADRIAN. He sits on the bed.]

DR. SHEPHERD: (Trying to smile) Hey, buddy, what's going on? Wanna talk about it?

[ADRIAN seems to calm down a bit as he notices DR. SHEPHERD, wiping his eyes and looking up at him.]

ADRIAN: Uhm…

[ADRIAN shrugs a bit, seeming unsure. In the background we see a slightly ajar closet door.]

MRS. JAMES: I…I can leave, if you want, so you two can talk…

[She hesitates before getting up to go. DR. SHEPHERD and ADRIAN are left alone, sitting side by side on the bed. There are a couple seconds of silence.]

DR. SHEPHERD: (calm and soothing tone) Adrian…can you tell me what you saw? Please?

ADRIAN: (still crying a little, voice shaking) Well…tonight...I tried what you suggested. I didn't hide from what was there…I looked for it.

DR. SHEPHERD: And?

ADRIAN: I looked in all the places I could think of...under the bed…in my sock drawer…but…

[ADRIAN begins to cry more, having stopped talking. He hides under his blanket.]

DR. SHEPHERD: (Very soothing tone, worry showing in his eyes) And? What happened?

ADRIAN: (speaks between sobs) I should never have looked in the closet! It hates being seen!

[The camera switches focus from ADRIAN to DR. SHEPHERD. DR. SHEPHERD looks worried, and we can see the closet door open slowly in the background.]

DR. SHEPHERD: Well...Adrian, remember what we talked about? These monsters aren't real. They're figments—

[The lightbulb on the ceiling sputters, and the only light left comes from the Snoopy night light glowing eerily. DR. SHEPHERD gasps, and ADRIAN whimpers.]

ADRIAN: You don't wanna look behind you…it's right there. It wants to take us.

[The camera cuts back to DR. SHEPHERD, and there is now a black shape behind him. It is tall, thin, and pure black, except for yellow eyes. It hisses and grabs both DR. SHEPHERD and ADRIAN before everything goes dark.]

The End