I

“Mama, I’m scared.”

“Sweetpea, there’s no reason to be.” Giulietta cradled her daughter’s head, twirling the girl’s hair with her fingers. She rubbed her eyes. “There’s no reason to be.”

“But Mama, what about the man underneath my bed?”

"What do you mean?"

“The man under my bed. Is he there?”

“Well, he’s there. You know that. You see him in your dreams, claws and all. He doesn’t mind much that you sleep on top of his house. Just don’t stick your legs out and he won’t have anything to bite.”

“Mama?”

“Don’t worry much too much, he should be nice enough while you’re small.” The girl whimpered.

She kissed her daughter’s cheek and stood, laying the girl’s head on the pillow. “Good night, Pea.”

“’Night, Mama.”


Giulietta closed the door. She ran her hands through her own long tresses, braiding them. She walked towards her own room, trembling with every creak of the floor. She grabbed her left arm with her right. She felt cold. She went to bed, banishing the monsters from her mind.

“I’m not scared,” she said. “There’s no reason to be.”

II

“Mama, look at me.” Giulietta’s daughter swung from the bars, hanging from her legs, long red hair trailing towards the ground.

“Lila, please don’t do that.” Giulietta couldn’t help but shake with fear.

“But it’s fun!”

“Just be careful.” Giulietta forced herself to sit down and let her daughter have fun. Let her daughter play with the others. Giulietta had started grinding her teeth again, she was so scared. Scared for Lila. The poor child. She barely realized what fear was. She ran with wild abandon, tripping over everything. Giulietta could barely handle the scraped knees. She fell apart with the broken bones. It was terrifying, having a child. She touched her ear. She shouldn’t go get Lila. She wouldn’t go get Lila. Damn it.

“Lila. It’s time to go home.”

“But, Mama!”

“It’s gonna get dark soon. We should go home.”?
“I don’t want to.”

“We’re going home,” Giulietta said. Lila unhooked herself from the bars and jumped to the ground. Her mother couldn’t help but cringe as she tumbled through the air. Lila dusted her hands off and sprinted towards her mother.

“Hi Mama.”

“Hi Sweetpea. Let’s go home.” They began to walk. “Doesn’t it scare you to be up so high?”

“No, it doesn’t scare me at all. Sarah can go all the way up the bars and sit on top of them. I wish I could do that.”

“It doesn’t scare you?”


“Of course not. The bars haven’t scared me for ages. Neither does the slide or the swings or climbing the trees or the sand pits, even though you told me not to go in there cos there might be things that bite me.” Giulietta shivered slightly. “Mama, are you cold?”

“Of course not. My, you’re getting so big.” Giulietta took a deep breath. “Doesn’t anything scare you anymore? The man under your bed?” she asked. Lila whimpered and scrunched her shoulders.

“He still scares me,” the girl said. Giulietta exhaled.

“Of course he does.” She unlocked the door and Lila scampered in. “Go watch some TV, sweetheart,” Giulietta called after her daughter. “I’m going to make some dinner.” She walked to the kitchen, shutting the door behind her. She grabbed her phone and dialed.

“Stephen, she’s not scared anymore.”

“Not of anything?”

“Only the man under her bed. But I don’t think that’s going to last much longer.”

“S***.”

“Yeah.” Giulietta heard him run his fingers through his hair and sigh.

“Etta, she’s your daughter. You got full custody.”

“You know that’s not how I wanted it to be. She is your daughter. You left us.”

“I know that, you don’t think I regret that every—?”

“Stephen. This is not about us. This is about her. She’s so young. Only seven. She’s barely in school.”

“If she’s not scared anymore, we have to send her in.”


“But she’s just a child. She’s not ready.”


“Etta, she’s ready when she’s not scared anymore. We all have to do it,” he said. Giulietta sighed.

“Oh, Stephen. You should have seen her today. So fearless. I had to tear her away from the park. I can’t do this anymore.”

“You need to take her in. It’s a quick operation. You don’t even have to stay the night anymore. It’s nothing like when they did it to us. She’ll be fine.”

“I just…I don’t know if I can let it happen to her.”

“It’s regulation. They just want it to happen. They say it makes everything run smoother, having Pearl. We all have it, and we turned out all right. There’s nothing we can do.”

“I know.”

“Listen, I have to go. I’ll call you.”

“No, you won’t.” She heard a sigh on the other end of the line.

“Bye, Etta.” She heard the line go dead.

“Bye,” she said to herself. She heard a clattering on the stairs.

“Mama, what’s for dinner?” Giulietta forced a smile on her face.

“I don’t know, Pea. What do you want?”

“Ice cream!”

“You can have ice cream later. What do you want for dinner?”

“Chocolate!” Giulietta laughed and pulled her daughter into a hug.

“Oh, what am I going to do with you?” she said. A tear began to drip down her cheek.

III

“Lila Carmichael?” the nurse said. Lila stood. Giulietta lingered in the chair before following her daughter. Her legs started to shake. They walked into the patient room, Lila hopping onto the exam table. A doctor bustled in.

“Mrs. Carmichael? And Lila?”

“Actually, I’m Ms. Ghirlandaio.” The ddoctorraised his eyebrows. “Lila is my daughter from a previous marriage.”

“Of course, of course,” the ddoctormumbled, pulling a pen from behind his ear and making a note in the chart. “I’m Doctor Radler. Lila, are you aware of what is going to happen today?”

“Yes, sir. You put a thingy in my ear and then I get to be like all the rest of the grownups.”

“And you’re not scared?”

“No, I’m seven years old. Of course I’m not scared. I’m not scared of anything.”

“Of course you’re not,” the doctormuttered. Turning to Giulietta, he continued. “Ms. Ghirlandaio, it’s a very simple procedure. Nothing to be worried about. Simply regulation. They just need everyone’s minds to feel the same. Be scared of the same things. You understand.”

“Of course I do,” Giulietta said, knees knocking. “I understand.”

“Excellent.” The doctor turned. “Lila, I’m going to ask you to lie on your side with your right ear facing up.” Lila did as she was told. “Excellent. I’m going to make small incisions around your ear. It won’t hurt. Great. You’re doing splendidly. Now, the Pearl,” he said, producing a small pink orb, “will just sit in your ear. It’s nothing to be afraid of, but, of course, you’re not afraid. Everyone’s required to have one implanted, government regulation.” The doctor placed the sphere in Lila’s ear. It glowed, twisting. Small ribbons shot from the Pearl, wrapping around her ear and curling into the small cuts behind her lobe. Lila blinked and shuddered.

“Is it…is it over?”

“Yes, Lila. It’s over.” The doctor turned. “Ms. Ghirlandaio, keep an eye on her over the next few days. If anything…unusual occurs, feel free to call the office for a consultation. You both are all set.” The ddoctorleft. Giulietta moved towards the table to comfort her whimpering daughter.

“It’s all right, Pea,” she said. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” Her knees were still knocking.

Giulietta and her daughter walked home from the office. Lila was quiet. She walked watching the ground, hopping every so often.

“Pea, what are you doing?”

“I can’t step on the cracks.”

“Why not?”

“It might break your back. I’m scared.”

“I thought you weren’t scared of anything,” Giulietta said. Lila whimpered and didn’t respond.

IV

“Lila, sweetheart!” Giulietta called. “Do you want to go to the park?” Lila peeked her head out from around the corner.

“Is it safe, Mama?”

“Of course,” she said, scratching her neck.

“I don’t want to go. It’s scary out there.” Giulietta couldn’t help the spread of relief across her face.

“It’s fine. Let’s just stay in and read a book.” Lila nodded and walked up to her room.

V

“Mama, I’m scared.”

“Well, of course you are, darling.” Lila cradled her son’s head, twirling the boy’s hair with her fingers. It was the same bright red as hers. She smiled when she held it. She rubbed her eyes and shook slightly.

“But Mama, what about the man underneath my bed?”

“He should be nice. You''re only a wee one, after all.”

“And the monster in my closet?”

“He cut his claws. He's big, but he shouldn't do too much.” The boy yelped.

"I'm scared." Lila breathed a sigh of relief.

She kissed her son’s cheek and stood, laying the boy’s head on the pillow. “Good night, little man.”

“’Night, Mama.”