Dax sat up in bed. He heard a scratching sound from the closet. “Dad!” he yelled.

Dad came to Dax’s room. He did a closet search. “Nothing here, bud,” he said. “Try to get some sleep.”

But Dax couldn’t sleep. He was sure there was something in the closet. He listened hard. The scratching had stopped.

Dax tried to relax. But now he saw shadows. They were coming out from the bottom of the closet.

“Dad!” Dax yelled. Dad came to Dax’s room. Again. He did a closet search. Again.

“Still nothing,” he said.

But Dax didn’t believe it was nothing. It was something for sure. Now there was a knocking. Thump. Thump. Thump.

“Dad!” Dax yelled. But Dad didn’t come. Dax could hear him snoring. Dax wondered if he should get out of bed and wake up Dad. But he really didn’t want to get out of bed.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

“Dad!”

Dad wasn’t coming. Dax decided to be brave. He got out of bed. He went to the closet. He opened the door.

In the morning, Dad came to wake up Dax. But Dax was not in his bed. “Dax!” yelled Dad.

From the closet, he heard a sound. Thump. Thump. Thump.