Have you ever wondered where socks go? How you can put two away and only find one a while later? I have this vague memory from my childhood of someone telling me of a monster. A monster that steals socks. I know there was more too it but I can’t remember now. I’m not even sure if the memory was real or just a childhood fantasy. Either way I don’t believe in monsters. At least not the ones described in stories to warn children not to wander too far from home, or to explain the unexplainable. Of course the real monsters that I know live inside of our minds. But those monsters twist words and latch onto the dark thoughts we have, they don’t steal socks. But I digress. The monster that has been lurking in my mind is this memory that I cannot remember. Something about socks, monster under beds, and souls? Was that it? I think so. I pull my shoes from under my bed and slip one on. My foot goes through. I don’t remember there being a hole in these. It clicks suddenly. The monsters under the bed steal socks, but sometimes steal soles. What a pointless monster. Who steals soles? I drop to my knees and peer under the bed. I blink. The darkness blinks back.