Teddy

"Don't worry, there are no monsters under your bed," Maya's mother told her as she tucked her into bed.

"Even if there were, Teddy would keep you safe," she handed Maya her Teddy bear.

"Thank you mommy," Maya smiled up at her as she hugged him.

"Goodnight honey," her mom kissed her on the forehead. She turned off the lights and closed the door.

A few minutes passed by and Maya was fast asleep. A gurgling sound started to come from under her bed. "You again!" Teddy carefully got out of Maya's grasp. "I won't let you hurt her," he jumped onto the side table and grabbed his wooden sword. He jumped down to the ground and dashed under the bed.

A dark, clawed creature on four legs, with glowing red eyes, stared at him. "You!" it hissed. It lunged at Teddy. Teddy sidestepped, but one of its claws cut his side.

"Go back to where you came from," Teddy thrust his sword into the creature and pulled the sword out the side, slicing through it. The creature gurgled, with black gunk coming out of its mouth. It faded away, leaving only a dark stain.

Maya started to move, waking up. Teddy threw his sword off to the side and slide out from under the bed. "Teddy?" Maya sat up and looked around. "There you are," Maya reached down and picked him up. "Teddy, you're injured!" Maya carefully pushed the stuffing back into him, "Don't worry, in the morning I'll fix you up." Maya pulled the covers back up, over her and Teddy, and quickly drifted back to sleep.