Mommy Thing

The Mommy Thing is a short scary story about a child who wakes up in the middle of the night and sees their mother… but is it really their mother?

One night, when I was 6 years old, I awoke to find my mother standing over my bed, staring down at me with a creepy smile on her face. There was something wrong… I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something off.

“Mom?” I said.

“Yes,” she replied. Her voice was flat, monotone.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Watching you sleep,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because,” she replied. She didn’t say anything more.

I don’t know how, but I knew, without a doubt in my mind, that this thing was not my mother.

It stared down at me and I stared up at it. We maintained constant eye contact. Neither one of us blinked.

I knew… and it knew that I knew. We both knew we were playing a game. The trick was to see who would blink first.

“It’s time for beddy-byes,” it said.

I didn’t reply. I just kept staring at it.

“Time to close your eyes,” it said.

“I’m not closing my eyes,” I whispered.

I fought against it for the longest time, straining every nerve in my body, desperately willing myself not to blink.

Then, very carefully, without turning around or breaking eye contact, it reached behind it for the closet door, sliding it open soundlessly. When it was fully open, it stepped backwards inside it, settling back until only its smiling face and too wide eyes were visible. Then, just as carefully, it slid the closet door shut again.

I lay there for a long time, silently trembling with fear. I kept my eyes trained on the the closet door, watching for any sign of movement.

Slowly, ever so slowly, I slid out of bed, keeping my eyes on the closet door. Cautiously, I took three or four steps to my right until I came to the bedroom doorway. Never for one moment did I take my eyes off that closet.

Then, I made a run for it. I ran across the darkened hallway and into the safety of my mother’s bedroom. She was lying there in her bed, sleeping peacefully.

A wave of terror washed over me as my worst fears were realized.

Only then did I allow myself to blink.