It was way past midnight when Nelson climbed into the bed of his recently restored home and pulled the covers up to his chin. He had snuck into the garden as soon as the taxi had dropped them off, and while his parents went through their usual bathroom routines and loudly recounted their favourite parts of the day, Nelson dug up the bottle of cactus juice his monsters had left for him. It was full, but Nelson didn’t open it. They had said it was for emergencies only, and that was what he would save it for.
Nelson’s new bedroom was very cool. Now he had a bunk-bed under which sat a neat little desk and a little music system. His copy of the script of Bugsy Malone lay open on the desk, though he had learned every word of it and was ready for the first show next week. He loved being in the show, and he especially loved the splurge guns. It made him feel like a cooler version of himself. Katy Newman had cast herself as Blousey Brown, which meant they had to kiss each other briefly on stage. He was surprised to find he actually liked kissing her. His monsters would have been appalled to hear this and would certainly have made fun of him. Maybe there were a few upsides to not having them around.
The coolest thing about his new room was that his mother had allowed Nelson to paint on the wall next to his window, and as he had never been able to take a photo of his monsters, he had painted them instead. It was a colourful picture, and Nelson only needed to glance at it for a smile to appear instantly on his face. He thought about his friends and where they might be. Were they happy? Were they safe? Was there enough to eat? Did they get as sad as he did at times?
As Nelson lay there feeling a little sadness begin to creep up on him, the bedroom door creaked open . . .
It was Minty.
Nelson had never seen the dog awake at night, let alone venture upstairs. She was clearly a little exhausted from climbing the stairs, but she continued to plod across Nelson’s bedroom carpet and stopped beside his bed.
‘Minty? What are you doing here?’ said Nelson. As if in reply, the dog put its paw on Nelson’s bed.
‘What is it? You want to come up?’
At the sound of these words, Minty began to pant enthusiastically.
‘I’ll take that as a yes, then,’ said Nelson, and he lifted Minty on to his bed.
No sooner had he done this than Minty curled up on top of Nelson’s feet and went to sleep.
Nelson felt his sadness drift away, and a happy and sleepy feeling washed over him. Minty, who had never shown the slightest interest in anything much, had picked up on how Nelson was feeling and was here to comfort him. Finally, after all these years, Minty had decided to join the family.
As Minty snored, Nelson looked at the painting of his monsters on the wall. He felt certain that wherever they were right now, they were safe and they were happy, and that everything was going to be fine.
And he was absolutely right.