My knees dug into the carpet as I dragged the strange object into the light, its spikes casting jagged shadows on the wall. It looked like a cross between a sea urchin and a sci‑fi weapon, something that absolutely did not belong in an ordinary bedroom. I turned it over and over, searching for a clue, a button, a logo—anything. Fear slowly gave way to confusion, and then a prickle of embarrassment.
With no answers in sight, I nudged my son awake and held it up like evidence. The moment his sleepy eyes focused, he burst into uncontrollable laughter. Between gasps, he explained: it was just a 3D‑printed stand for his video game controller, forgotten under the bed. All that tension, all that dread, undone in a single, ridiculous revelation—proof that, sometimes, the monsters in the dark are only plastic and imagination.
