A roar of thunder wakes her from her midnight slumber. She slowly gets up, unable to fall asleep again, for the moment. She looks out the window to see the wind and rain swirling in a sort of devilish dance. Then she presses her cheek against the pane of glass, letting the cold seep into her already tingling skin. Her name was Ivy, and the tireless rage of the storm was like a lullaby to her ears. During the tornado last semester, she had been calm and cool, enjoying the presence of the funnel because it got her out of class. But all of the others had been wild and frantic at the smallest flash of lightning. The warning to evacuate to rooms without windows downstairs came over the intercom. Nothing had actually happened, but everyone acknowledged her fearlessness. But, at that very moment, Ivy heard the creak of the closet door opening and sly footsteps tottering near the entrance. She shivered. Ivy knew everyone had their weaknesses, and she had managed to keep hers hidden at school and in other social events. But when she forgot to lock the closet door on those god-forsaken nights, she knew there was no hiding it. A long time ago, when she was only about 4 years old, her uncle had told her a Halloween story, to see if he could frighten the girl whom no one had managed to scare. He never knew the tale was true, and how it would affect her all the rest of her life.

"Once, in a faraway land, long before dinosaurs had even roamed the earth, there was a place called Volconia. And in this land were awful monsters called budgees. Now, these creatures weren't just scary, they were horrifyingly frightful! They scurried around the barren land of molten lava, and would eat any animal or other creature caught, as long as it wasn't another budgee - just for the fun of it! One day, these creatures found a doorway to another dimension: ours. And when they went through it, they came up through people's closets. Every night, if you don't lock your closet, then they will come and eat you!"

At the time, Ivy had laughed, trying to fool him. But that night she insisted that her parents lock all of the closets, and she hated being in a room if it contained an unlocked closet. Over the years, she had managed not to face her fear, but tonight she had become careless. She had come home late after an exhausting volleyball tournament. Slowly, she turned around with complete and utter fear in her eyes, to see ……….

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