I. The Introduction

William is a smart boy. He knows this because he heard his mom tell her friends, “He is a smart boy.” And his dad says quite often, “You’re a rather smart fella there.” Since he trusts his parents to tell him all sorts of things, this must be true. Therefore, William is a smart boy.

So when he saw what looked like a light shining under his closet door he knew that couldn’t be right. More than that, it couldn’t be good. He ducked his head under the covers and called for his dad. Louder and more urgent he called until he finally heard his dad’s voice.

“What is it, son?” His dad asked and gently tried to pull down the covers to see William’s face. But William wouldn’t budge.

“There is something in my closet,” he cried.

His dad finally managed to pull the covers off of William’s face. But his eyes were still closed tight.

“There is nothing in your closet,” his dad said calmly.

“I saw it. There was a light.” William refused to open his eyes but he managed to point in the direction of the closet in case his dad was unsure.

“What?” His dad asked standing up. “This closet?” He opened the door quickly. “Anyone in here?”

William opened his eyes so that he could stop his dad from doing something rather foolish but was too late. His dad was already poking around in the closet.

“Anyone?” His dad asked again and waved his hand around. He stopped and looked at William. “Nothing in here, buddy.”

Now, in the whole three-and-a-half years William had known his dad he had never heard him lie. So, he knew he should believe him. But he also knew what he saw and what he saw was some kind of light in the closet. This made for some kind of dilemma for young William.

“Stay with me,” William asked. He felt safer with his dad in the room. And if he saw the light again, he could show his dad right then.

“I will stay for a little bit,” his dad said and turned off the light. He laid down next to William. William watched the closet door so that he could show his dad the light when it happened again. But it never did and eventually he fell asleep.

Until he heard a knock on the closet door. He opened his eyes and his dad was gone and there was definitely someone in the closet making a lot of noise. But he could make noise, too. He called for his dad just as loud if not louder.

His dad came back in the room and turned on the light.

“Something…is…in…there,” William said breathlessly staring at the door.

His dad again walked to the closet and opened the door quickly. But only the same culprits of clothes and shoes were found. “Still nothing in here, buddy.” He looked at the worried expression on his son’s face and sat next to him. “I tell you what, if you hear that noise again or see that light, here’s what you need to do. You need to march right up to this door and open it and say, ‘Hi, my name is William. What’s yours?’ Then you will be friends and you won’t be scared anymore.”

That sounded ridiculous. Or whatever vocabulary word William associated with ridiculous since he is only three-and-a-half. But still, if his dad said it would work, it would probably work. After all, his dad had never let him down yet.

His dad stayed with him until he fell asleep again. But again he woke up to something knocking in the closet. William opened his eyes and saw a light shining under the door. At first, he covered his face and was going to call out again. But he remembered what his dad had told him. Oh, why did he tell him that of all things? Why couldn’t have told him that if it happened again William was to run into bed with him and mom? That seemed like a better plan.

But that’s not what his dad told him to do. He told him to open the door and make a friend. For a few more moments, he stayed under the covers. Maybe it was morning already. After all, it had been along night. Surely, the sun was up and his mom was coming down the hall to get him. He peeked out and saw the room was still completely dark and quiet. No such luck.

If there were a clock in his room and if he could tell time he would see it was only 10:00pm. But he couldn’t tell time so there was no clock in his room yet. All he knew was it was, in fact, still night.

He was going to have to follow his dad’s advice. But was his dad sure about this? No, he had never led him astray yet. This was going to work. He took a deep breath and kicked the covers off.

The knocking was consistent and the light was still under the door. He reached for the handle, took another deep breath, and opened the door.

“Hi,” he said, “my name is William. What is yours?”

A startled creature blinked his eyes in disbelief. No one had opened a door on him before let alone ask his name. “Did you just ask me a question?” It asked.

William swallowed and nodded. His eyes big and round.

“Oh, in that case,” the creature said and stood upright. Its body resembled a lizard and its head looked like a feline. “Hello William, my name is Nevele. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Next Chapter: II