Elliott and the Monster in the Woods

A short story

One crisp fall afternoon, Elliott wandered deeper into the woods than ever before. The trees rose tall and gray, their branches weaving together to steal away the last light of day.

Elliott’s chest was tight with anger. It was the first day of school, and not a single classmate wanted to be his friend. He snatched up a stick and hurled it into the shadows.

That’s when he heard it—
A low grunt.
A sound unlike any he’d heard before.

“Hello?” Elliott called, his voice braver than he felt.

The bushes shivered. They rose, higher and higher, until Elliott found himself staring at something enormous. A creature, with blue shaggy fur and candy-cane horns, peered back at him with wide, weary eyes.

Elliott gasped. “You’re…a…MONSTER!” He stumbled backward, heart pounding.

The monster sighed, his voice heavy with sadness. “This is the part where you run away. They all do. Too big, too scary—that’s what they all say…”

But Elliott didn’t run.

Instead, he looked closer. Past the horns. Past the fur. Past the scary size.

And then, without another thought, he climbed right up onto the monster’s head.

“You’re perfect,” Elliott said.

The monster blinked, surprised.

From that day on, he wasn’t too big or too scary anymore. He was just the friend Elliott needed.

The End.