Mr. Giggles

I once had an old toy...I called him Mr. Giggles. He arrived in a small box on our porch. He was a small brown ball of fur, with only a wide smile of bright white teeth. When I hugged him, he would giggle happily, and it made me feel safe. I took to sleeping with the toy, for comfort...but he was a little scary at night. One night I woke my mom up to tell her he was scaring me. "What is it sweetie?" she said.

"Mom, Mr. Giggles is—"

She cut me off. "Oh sweetie, it's OK," she would say, and tell me to go back to bed. Mr. Giggles would be sitting there, smiling at me and giggling. During the day it was safe; he would be my friend and we would play together, I would sing to him, and he would giggle proudly. When night came, however, he would scare me...I awoke one night to whispers, and rolled over to hear him better. He would be whispering...a song, a scary one.

"Sleep, sleep, close your eyes, first who listens, last who dies, sleep, sleep, eyes shut tight, have no sight, but I still bite."

I tried telling my mom, but she would tell me I was dreaming and to go back to bed. He would always be there, giggling triumphantly, but...he changed. His giggles got deeper, and slower as time went on. I became very scared of Mr. Giggles.

He became my worst nightmare. I tried telling Mom, but she said his batteries were probably dying is all. But I knew better... I had tried changing his batteries, with the same result each time, a slower, and deeper giggle...I threw Mr. Giggles away. I no longer wanted him, and everything was fine for about a week. But one day after school, I was coloring and heard a strange noise, almost a white noise, barely audible. I checked the whole house, searching for whatever was making that strange sound... but found nothing. I asked my mom about it, but she said she didn't hear anything. I gave up, and went back to my room to finish coloring...but I found Mr. Giggles on my bed, and my coloring paper ruined. It was scribbled all over with the same words, over and over: "first who listens, last who dies."

Mr. Giggles was whispering it too, again and again... I screamed and ran to my mom, who came to investigate my room. It was empty...and all my coloring pages were blank. On my bed sat Mr. Giggles, smiling at me. I slept with my mom for a week after that night. I didn't want to go back to that room... I never wanted to face Mr. Giggles again. But I didn't have to... Mr. Giggles came to me. It was late one night and I woke up at around 3 AM. I was still in my mom's room since Mr. Giggles was still in mine. I groggily looked around and rolled over to see if my mom was awake... but she wasn't there. I sat up.

"Mom?" I spoke into the darkness... No reply. I laid back down waiting for her to come back.

She must just be getting some water, I told myself... but she wasn't coming back. I began to worry more the longer she was gone.

"Mommy? Are you there?" Again, no reply. But I heard it... a low... demonic... laugh. I got up, and would regret that decision for the rest of my life. I walked toward the kitchen, thinking, she needed a snack to go with the water, that's all... But she wasn't there. I began trembling, and turned to go to the bathroom; maybe she just had to use the bathroom... My heart was racing as I opened the door. The light was on, but she was nowhere in sight. I felt my muscles relax as I found myself relieved... but it was short lived. On the side of the tub was a red smear... blood... I closed my eyes in hopeful fear that she wouldn’t be in there.

I stepped to the tub slowly and grabbed the curtain... Holding my breath, I flung the curtain aside, and screamed. My mom lay in chewed pieces at the bottom of the tub. I choked on the bile that rose in my throat, and sobbed loudly. I heard him... I heard Mr. Giggles laughing at me, taunting me with that phrase... "first who listens, last who dies." I ran from the house, crying and afraid. Reaching the police station in what felt like seconds, I stormed in and starting sobbing and yelling about my toy, and how it killed my mom. I was so scared.

A tall man wrapped me in a blanket and told me to slow down, so I took a deep breath and told him everything. At first he just stared at me, with this look on his face, almost mocking. He looked around at the other officers in the room, and laughed... a deep slow laugh... just like Mr. Giggles. I started to back away, but he noticed and asked where I was going, making a grab for my arm. I shrieked and ran away, locking myself in this small, dark room. I heard the shouts from the other side but wouldn’t listen, because right behind me, I heard a noise... a small... hushed... giggle...