Day 646

As Jamie, aged 7, wandered around the house late at night he met all the others that lived there.
The ones his parents called "imaginary friends".
They were quieter during the day, sitting all silent-like in the corners or their "zones".
Every one of them had their place and they made sure Jamie knew his.

For example there was Long-Bones.
He'd wrap his flexible limbs around the tops of lampshades and melt into them.
Any time Jamie went to turn on a light without checking Long-Bones would snap at his hands.
His parents thought he'd cut himself on a sharp wire, taken him to hospital and forgotten.

And so Jamie knew not to turn on the lights, Long-Bones couldn't see him in the dark.

There was also Sally who sat next to his parents when they slept and tried to steal their breath.
She'd wrap her tiny hands around their throats until they choked and gasped awake.
Jamie knew she was the reason why they wore oxygen masks to bed.
They called it sleep apnea and paid no mind to the smaller imprints on their pillows.

And so Jamie knew to block his door at night, Sally was too short to reach the handle.

Not all of them were bad though, Jowl wasn't bad like the others.
He'd flatten himself onto the floor and slide under Jamie's door to block others from coming in.
His body blended perfectly into any carpet but felt like raw meat and ribs to the touch.
It was the only downside to having Jowl protect him.

And so Jamie knew to wear boots at night, Jowl's spines would shred his feet otherwise.

The worst of all was the one that Jamie had never properly seen, the one the others called Banjax.
Every night Jamie would try to hunt him down and make him stop and every night he failed.
Instead he ended up clearing the mess that Banjax left so his parents never knew.
His mum hated the sight of blood on TV, how would she react to mutilated sparrows on the walls?

And so Jamie knew that if he ever stopped patrolling, Banjax would get worse and bring larger prey in.