The night cloaks the sky filling it with blackness,
Poetry of starlight helps to decorate the sky while the ever glow of the moon shows down like a bright crystal bringing tranquility and peace to the soul.
The moonlight pierces through the window of a particular humble house.
A boy that looks no more than five years old is comfortably lying on his bed while his mother skims through his hair gently caressing it with love.
The boy hugs a pillow before he raises his innocent eyes to look at his mother, "Mom, I don't want to go to sleep. I still want to play with dad"
"It's late you little rascal, you need to sleep or you will get sick", replied the boy's mother with a smile while still caressing the boy's hair with her slender fingers.
"Okay, Mom… But! tell me a story just like you always do", pleaded the boy.
The boy's mother sighs before she glanced out of the window, the full moon greeted her as she inhales the night air deeply, "Naughty boy like you should be reminded that there are monsters that roam the night preying on boys like you"
Hearing this, the boy gripped his blanket and pull it up until it covers his face leaving his eyes to see his mother feeling curious still despite being scared.
Seeing the cute expression, the boy's mother chuckles lightly.
After deciding what to tell, the boy's mother then started her story, "Let me tell you a story of the monsters that roam the night, long ago there are strict rules to not go out at the night for the fear of the furred monsters. We call them children of the moon"
The boy's mother pauses to see the boy's reaction before continuing, "Their bodies are big and scary covered by thick black furs blending them to the night, claws and fangs decorate them with upright ears that resemble a wolf"
Imagining the monster his mother told him,
The boy started to get scared, he grabs his mother's hand tightly not intending to let go.
Upon feeling the boy grabs her hand tightly, the boy's mother smile in amusement looking at her child's cute reaction, "Some says a curse turns children who like to play in the night into these monsters, and their sorrow leads to preying on other children who are not sleeping in the night"
"These children turned monsters are regret wandering in the night instead of sleeping"
"A howl will be heard when they wanted to find the naughty children, their red eyes will stalk from the darkness waiting for the right moment to strike, waiting…. and waiting…. until suddenly"
While the boy's mother is saying this, she can see that the boy's body becomes tense as he gripped her hand even more tightly.
The boy's mother suddenly makes a clawing motion startling the boy,
"AAAAHHH!" The boy screams in horror startled by his mother's sudden movement, he then pulls the blanket to cover his face too out of fear.
Seeing this, the boy's mother burst out laughing as she opens the blanket slowly.
"Now now, the monster will not eat you if you go to sleep now. Besides if the monster comes, your father will be there to protect you. You also have the necklace that your father gave you, it will protect you" said the boy's mother trying to calm the boy down.
After calming the boy down with gentle strokes on the head,
"You need to go to sleep now, tomorrow is a big day for you", the boy's mother said before she gets up and heads to the door.
Halfway opening the door, the boy's mother looks back at the boy.
"Good night my little Silverstar", the boy's mother bids the boy goodnight before turning off the lamp and closing the door shut behind her.
The boy then re-positions himself on the bed to feel more comfortable after his mother left,
While he's readying himself to sleep, his eyes start to wander to the window before remembering the story his mother told him before, "Children of the moon...", the boy mutters.
His eyes are looking directly at the crescent moon lighting up the night,
But then suddenly, he hears a howl coming from the forest just beside his house that makes his entire body shiver out of fear.
Aooouuuu!
Hearing this, the boy immediately shut his eyes and covers his entire body with the blanket fearing the Children of the moon will come and get him for staying up late.
The next day,
Rex was in the middle of a beautiful dream when he felt a hand shaking his body, he slowly opens his eyes while grumbling because someone has interrupted his sleep.
"Wake up, it's your first day of school so you don't want to be late"
"Hurry and take a bath, I'll be waiting downstairs for breakfast", Rex's mother reminds him and walks out as soon as she finishes talking and making sure Rex is up.
Rex blinked his eyes a couple of times slowly adjusting to his surrounding,
He rubs his eyes lazily before looking outside of the window where the moon was replaced by the bright sun, he then gets down from the bed before going to the bathroom.
After finishing his bath,
Rex walks downstairs wearing his school uniform and an oversized bag hanging on his shoulders.
"Good morning son, come eat your food or you will be late for school,", a middle-aged man said with a big smile on his face while putting a plate full of food on the table.
He's wearing a typical office worker's outfit while reading something on his phone.
Rex's mother who is by the kitchen on his right then approach him and said, "Come I made your favorite breakfast, scrambled eggs with sausage! You will love it, this is a special day"
This snapped Rex out of his morning sleepiness as he realized what today is,
Hearing his parent saying stuff as if they're cheering him on subconsciously makes Rex more nervous about going to school, his eyes began to get teary.
The nervousness of leaving the house for an unknown place makes him want to cry.
Rex's father notices his stiff expression before he smiles and said, "Are you nervous, son? Come sit next to me, let me tell you something"
Upon seeing his father inviting him to sit next to him,
Rex started to slowly walk toward him, but the nearer he gets the more tears flowed down his cheek as he hugs his father instead of sitting next to him.
This brought a smile to his father's face as he rubs Rex's back,
After letting Rex hugs him for a moment, his father pulls him away before grabbing both of Rex's cheeks, "Listen to me, you're going to be okay. Aren't you my strong boy?"
Hearing this, Rex nodded his head with teary eyes still.
"As a man you have to be strong, crying is okay but you have to keep moving forward. When you are in a difficult moment and feel like crying, just think of happy thoughts and believe that it will all pass"
"Difficulties will not stay forever, just like school", Rex's father said before rubbing Rex's head.
Rex's mother who is done cleaning the kitchen comes to the table before she added, "When you're older, you will miss school just like your father did"
This makes Rex's father laughs heartily,
"So, be a strong boy and have fun in school alright?", Rex's mother said with a bright smile.
Hearing this, Rex nodded his head repeatedly while wiping his tears before he sits on his chair and started to eat the love-made breakfast by his parents.
After having breakfast his father dropped Rex at school with a smile on his face,
"I'm sorry I can't accompany you during your first day at school son", his father said from the car.
But then his father smiles encouragingly and said, "Be brave! and have fun!"
Rex nodded his head lightly making his father smile before his father takes off, but the brave bravado on his face disappear as he glances at the school entrance which is already packed with kids, 'I'm scared'
'Rainbow Kindergarten', is displayed just beside the entrance.
But then Rex remembers his father's words saying that he's strong, and with that, he then bravely takes long strides towards the school entrance.
Rex arrives at the class where his name are stated on the door,
At first, he is nervous just like the other kids.
The pressure of starting to dawn on him especially when the other kids brought their parents along, he's starting to get teary again as he sat on his chair silently.
But he starts to calm down when he sees a young girl sitting at the front of the class.
It's like he's being hypnotized that makes his eyes glued onto her, the long blonde hair and her chubby cheeks somehow calm him down from his nervousness.
She's just like the moon in the night, very comforting to look at.
But his daze was interrupted when a teacher comes into the room with a friendly smile, the teacher explains the rules of the school and advised the kids to be brave and come to school alone tomorrow before telling everyone to get along.
During the eight hours of Rex's first day at school,
He makes new friends, and slowly the nervousness he felt is gone.
Feeling that the other kids and their parents are friendly, out of nowhere he finds the courage to stand up from his seat intending to talk to the blonde-haired girl.
Rex approaches the blonde girl and saw she's sitting with her parents,
This makes him stop on his track but he braces himself, he attracted the blonde-haired girl's attention as he nears her, "Hello… My name is Rex… Can we be friends?", he asked with a meek tone.
Rex smile nervously, he looks back and forth towards the blonde girl and her parents.
The blonde girl's parents chuckle looking at the nervous Rex.
But the father of the blonde girl gives Rex a thumb up praising the courage he had from such a young age, and this brought overwhelming confidence to his chest.
The blonde girl glanced at Rex gracefully with a cold look,
Rex's expression froze upon seeing this thinking that he will be rejected by the girl, but then suddenly that cold look turns into a bright beautiful smile.
It froze Rex's entire body as he waited for the girl to answer,
"Hi! Nice to meet you, Rex! The name's Laura, Laura Frostbrand", replied the girl enthusiastically while bringing her hand forward for a handshake.
Hearing this, Rex's smiles blossoms as he shakes her hand.
While he was shaking Laura's hand, he caught a glimpse of a blonde boy just beside Laura folding his hands while turning his head away.
From the looks of it, he looks to be Laura's brother.
But this makes Rex decide not to talk to him, he looks unwelcoming to him.
After getting to know Laura a bit more, Rex also makes other friends but he is already content with having Laura as his friend.
RING!!
The bell rang signing the end of today's class, the other kids didn't idle along and go straight home with their parents to go home.
Laura also bids farewell to Rex,
Rex waves his hand seeing Laura inside a white jeep driving away while also waving her hand, he then sits on the side of the school field waiting for his father to come to pick him up.
He saw many children start leaving the school premises one by one,
Fifteen minutes have passed but there is no sign of Rex's father, 'It's okay, father is probably stuck in traffic', he mutters to himself albeit starting to worry.
After about an hour or so, the sun is starting to fade away and there is still no sign of his father.
Rex wanted to cry but suddenly he remembers his father's words again.
'As a man you have to be strong, crying is okay but you have to keep moving forward. When you are in a difficult moment and feel like crying, just think of happy thoughts and believe that it will all pass'
With that Rex calmed himself down and wait,
Three hours have passed and Rex's butt is starting to hurt, he started to weep in tears as he thought his father forgot about him, 'Father where are you?', Rex thought sadly.
It's his first day of school, and he's left alone as the day starts to get dark.
One of the school teachers notice Rex crying, she went to Rex and tap on his shoulder. "Hai there, Why are you still here? Where are your parents?" she asked softly.
Still, in tears, Rex answers with a shaky voice, "Ms. Greene, *sob* I don't know *sob* Where they are"
Looking at Rex's face filled with tears,
Ms. Greene sighs as she felt bad for him, so she decided to ask, "Where is your home? I'll take you there, it'll be bad if you stay until night here"
Hearing this, Rex got a little hope.
With brimming eyes, he then answers, "It's on happiness street near the border of Dupok City".
"Okay it's not far, let's go", Ms. Greene said and grabs Rex's hand.
Rex and Ms. Greene walk out of the school before they both get on Ms. Greene's motorcycle, Rex hugs her tightly from the back before they took off.
The day turns to night,
Rex looks up to the sky still wondering why his parent doesn't pick him up.
The bright full moon illuminated the night, in normal days maybe Rex will be afraid especially after hearing his mother's story about the full moon but now his mind is too occupied.
Rex can't wait to get home and see his parents,
"Is this your home?", Ms. Greene looks back at Rex with a questioning look.
After realizing that the motorcycle has already stopped, Rex glanced to the side before his eyes lit up happily, "Yes, it is! Thank you, Ms. Greene!", he thanked.
Rex got off Ms. Greene's motorcycle and heads to his house with his little steps.
While looking at Rex striding happily,
Ms. Greene stood there on her motorcycle, she then looks around and finds that the surrounding is too quiet making her feel something amiss with the neighborhood.
Rex walks towards his house with light steps,
The sadness he felt before turned into happiness but it didn't last long,
He arrives in front of the doorstep of his house, his hand was about to knock on the door but the door suddenly opened a little on its own.
Creak...
Rex is confused upon seeing this, 'It's opened? Dad said to always lock the door'
"Mom? Dad?", Rex walks into his house slowly pushing the door open wider, the living room is dark, devoid of light except for natural lights from the windows.
He saw the tv is still on as he walks inside the house,
The happiness he felt for reaching home slowly turns into nervousness.
Rex took a deep breath to calm his nerve and proceed to walk inside, he can't help but bite his fingernails to ease his nervousness.
Thud…Thud…Thud….
A low stepping sound was heard from upstairs,
Rex walks toward the stair while still biting his fingernails nervously, he then gripped the stair handle and walks upstairs a stair at a time when suddenly,
"AAARRGHHH!"
A high-pitched scream was heard from upstairs, this made Rex jump in shock.
Instead of looking at what is going on upstairs, Rex froze in fear after hearing the voice that sounds very familiar to his ears, 'Mom?'
"Get back you monster!"
Clang!
Rex got goosebumps all over his body, he started to sweat profusely.
He is terrified by the ruckus from the second floor especially since he heard his mother's scream, but somehow he arrives in front of the door where the sound came from.
It's his parents' room,
The door is not fully closed, Rex peeked inside from the door gap.
His entire body started trembling as he look at the inside of the room,
The scene inside the room makes him widen his eyes in shock mixed with fear, he puts his shaking hand on his mouth trying to stop his whimper from being heard.
Inside the room, Rex saw a bulky black-furred monster standing on two with a chilling black aura.
The monster's back is facing Rex, its claws are long and sharp which seems that it can tear iron easily, and furs cover the monster from head to toe blending its body with the darkness.
Its body is so huge that it almost touches the ceiling, and the full-moon light illuminates a T-shaped red glowing rune on the monster's muscular shoulder.
One thing came into mind, 'Children of the moon!'
Rex found the creature inside is similar to the monster in the story his mom told him last night, but his gut is telling him that the monster in front of him is a monster among monsters.
"No, Stop, Please don't hurt her!"
The sound of his father's begging snaps Rex out of his daze, he stands still frozen in place as if the aura of the monsters alone can immobilize his entire body.
He's stoned in front of the door like a statue,
A hole on the wall inside the room can be seen as it seems the monster tore its way through.
Although people will know this feeling soon, the feeling people called fear comes to Rex too early as he witnesses what is happening inside his parents' room.
"AAAAAHHHH!!"
ROAARR!!
Slash!
In front of Rex's very eyes, his mother's head was ripped off.
Rex's father tries to stop the creature from harming his mother but got flung away easily to the side, the creature then grabbed his mother's head before ripping her head off.
Thick blood sprayed from the headless corpse of his mother,
His mother's shocked expression can still be seen clearly as her head spins in the air before falling to the ground while splattering blood all over the place.
Thud!
"NABILA!!", Rex's father shouted on top of his lung scattering towards Nabila's head.
He grabbed Nabila's head and hug it while crying.
Rex saw his father start sobbing and crying while hugging his beloved mother's head, this is the first time he saw his father cries.
'Father...?', Rex thought inside his head confused.
After a moment of grieving, Rex's father's eyes become red with anger.
The overwhelming adrenaline of losing his wife makes Rex's father stands up on his feet, he looks at the monster without a hint of fear, "WHY? WHY? YOU MONSTER!"
His father grabbed a metal bat and swing it toward the black-furred monster.
BAM!
The metal bat hit cleanly on the monster's head, it possess all Rex's father got.
But after the metal bat landed, Rex's father widen his eyes.
It did nothing!
The black-furred creature is still standing strong, its head didn't even budge when hit by the metal bat that Rex's father so desperately swung with all his might.
The anger that Rex's father feel vanished instantly as fear overcome his pale face.
Out of nowhere, the monster grabbed Rex's father's neck and lift him off the ground. Rex's father struggles to break free but the monster's hand is like an iron that didn't budge at all.
Rex's father stares straight into the monster's red eyes feeling hopeless.
The monster replies with a grin exposing its sharp fangs,
After giving one last grin, the monster opens its mouth widely and bites Rex's father's whole head, and started munching on it as if it's a delicious snack.
Crunch!
Blood spurt from Rex's father's headless body like a waterfall, some even splash to Rex's face.
The five years old Rex watches this scene with cold feet, his eyes turned lifeless as he stares at the monster munching and gulping his parents remain while he stands powerless there.
Crack...
'Happy Thoughts…'
Crunch…
'Happy Thoughts…'
Krkkk…
'It will go away'
Thud...
'It will go away'
After eating the recent prey, the monster turns his head slowly towards its back.
The monster's red eyes stare straight into Rex's eyes, and a disturbing grin appears on the monster's face while the blood of his parents dripped from its mouth.
Room decorated with the blood of his parents,
His parents' remains are only chunks of meat scattered around,
The grin with fangs of the black-furred creature with red eyes,
It's a sight that is engraved on Rex's mind that will never leave him until the end of his life.