Monsters In The Dark... Just In Case

Monsters In The Dark ... Just In Case by Gloria Faye Brown Bates... 12--15-2024

I can see daylight now. Earlier, I saw a pretty moon in the sky.. I wish to roam, wander, go places at nights like we used to on the tractor trailer we drove. I miss being so ... free! I miss the speed, excitement traveling across country.

My journey  on the big truck was so, perhaps at times ... too exciting. It was wonderful ... maybe too stressful at times. One doesn't realize strict schedules drivers have to keep ... never mind getting proper rest ... you had better be on time. We were.

Driving a truck, my opinion only ... it felt to me it was a way of keeping a finger on the pulse of our country. Wow, we were aware of what was happening ... everywhere! Exciting!

Oh my, the people we met ... the colorful characters who entered our life along the way. I met every walk of people ... beautiful, ugly.

Trucking is exciting ... it's also, fraught with dangers. Unexpected dangers, normal dangers all along the way. 

Truckers are vulnerable ... they are in the most unimaginable places all times of the nights ... my, my ... that's where you see real monsters roaming around to prey on others.

Human monsters are the scariest ... intelligent, knowing how to work others to maneuver them just right ... before springing their traps. I knew instinctively not to trust smiles, sweet words like candy ... I had to learn ... not all people are like ME ... I wasn't anywhere in their league. 

I met people on the streets I 'knew would, could kill me without a care in the world ... if ... I had something of value they wanted ... if I wasn't protected by ... Skip Bates ... and the people who worked in those areas. 

You see ... I trusted that when I was good to others ... they would be that way to me. Not so ... not so at all ........ I learned. I also, learned to rein my darn curiosity in! Like a cat ... I learned not to just wander here, there ... following happy colors, anything that piqued my interest. I found out ... the dark really DOES have eyes ... the dark can, will ... eat you alive! I had to quit being so curious about everything that amazed, surprised ... made me want to know more!

I learned to stay within Skip's sight, or the workers' sight in big, scary warehouses, docks ... to be cautious when going near high stacks of boxes on pallets. One never knew what lurked in the shadows of darkness. Oh my, my, my ... it took a few times for ME to become frightened ... come close to danger to realize ... I might be nice, caring ... but, there are humans void of any emotions ... driven by their own demons inside ... they had needs I couldn't even begin to imagine ... blood, sex, drugs, need to kill, maim, hurt ... dominate ... my words sound tame compared to what they would do to others ... if like animals, became isolated from the herd.

I was a perfect candidate ... young, pretty, naive, trusting, kind, smiling, happy ... going off in my own directions looking for the wondrous happy, new colors of life. That darn curiosity of mine led me places I later learned I wanted no part of. Oh no ... you who live in your safe, happy, normal homes ... there really are monsters in this world ... you don't want to be isolated from the herd ... bad things do ... happen. 

You aren't aware of who you rub elbows with. Their smiles, facades of being nice like you ... is just an act to lure the unsuspecting into their clutches whenever they want. 

Have you ever seen the mask slip off some people's faces ... revealing someone you don't know ... evil, scary? 

Welcome to the real world ... evil coexists with good ... you just saw firsthand how shocking, horrifying it is to see the for-real person someone is. 

The unmasking happens quickly in the blink of an eye ... just the shock holds you into one spot when you should be running ... you are in disbelief! Don't stand there to find out ... RUN! Especially ... if you feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up! RUN!

Don't ask me how I know ... I don't talk about everything. Some things need to be completely forgotten ... but ... not until you learn a Life's lesson ... then, let go, put it in the past. 

Take what you learned, file it back for ... just in case ...just in case you need what you learned to protect yourself. You honestly never know who someone is ... when you sometimes, see what people are hiding ... I promise you ... you won't ever forget. You really do rub elbows in everyday life with ... evil. 

Yes ... evil can be most beautiful,  wonderful, glowing, happy colors ... sparkle like gold, diamonds! Breathtaking! You can't set a trap ... if you don't have ... bait. Evil loves naive, trusting, innocent souls ... I think evil loves that best of all.

Maybe someone just read my words ... and you are young, trusting, amazed at this big world full of wondrous things ... maybe like ME ... have this big curiosity and are easily lured by happy colors, anything that sparkles like diamonds and gold  ... tuck my words behind your hat to help you 'if' evil ever pops its head up at you. It's for-real ... just simply always have a plan. Oh ... keep your body, legs strong so, you can ... run! 

I learned evil hides under kindness ... sweet words like candy. I learned evil pops up in the darkness to harm you! You never know when. I learned about evil before my truck driving days ... my adventures in trucking carried me deeper into the Heart of it ... I saw what a normal, everyday person doesn't know, expect, understand.

Still keep your kindness, goodness, smiles ... I still believe there's more good than bad. We just have to be prepared ... just in case.

Tommy M Sidden Precious Camo Kissy Fairchild