That's Nice Mitch

by Lance Holloway

Mitch was starving for attention. For a six year old boy, attention means a lot. He was out of school for the summer, and he lived out in the country away from all the other kids.

The bad thing was that his parents didn't pay any attention to him at all.

One day Mitch caught a frog. He ran into the kitchen where his mother was washing dishes. "Look, Mom. I caught a frog."

"That's nice, Mitch," his mother said not taking her eyes away from the dishes.

Mitch walked back outside and let the frog go. Later that day, Mitch was playing in a tree. His father was raking the cut grass in the yard. Mitch worked up his nerves and hung upside down from a branch by his knees. "Look at me, Dad."

"That's nice, Mitch," his father said not looking away from his work.

Mitch dejectedly climbed back down the tree. Later that day, Mitch was playing with his building blocks in the living room. He had built a huge tower. His dad was sitting in his recliner watching TV. "Look at my tower, Dad."

"That's nice, Mitch," his father replied never glancing toward the block structure.

Mitch went into the kitchen where his mother was balancing her checkbook. "Come look at my tower, Mom."

"That's nice, Mitch," she said continuously typing numbers into the calculator. His father walked in and looked over some of the papers his mother was working on.

Mitch went back into the living room where his tower was. But his tower was knocked down. Then he saw what knocked the tower down. It was a monster! It looked like a large brown furball with legs, arms, eyes, and a mouth with sharp teeth. It was about Mitch's size, but to a six year old boy, it was frightening.

The monster saw Mitch and growled barring its teeth and raising its claws. Mitch ran into the kitchen. His father had gone into the bedroom for something. "MOM!" Mitch yelled. "There's a monster in the living room!"

"That's nice, Mitch," she replied writing down the new figure she calculated.

Mitch ran into the bedroom where his dad went. "Dad, there's a monster in the living room!"

"That's nice, Mitch," he said rummaging through the filing cabinet.

Mitch ventured into the living room to see if the monster was still there. It was. Mitch was scared of the monster, but was also furious that it knocked down his tower. So, he walked up to the monster (who was still playing with the blocks) and said, "You knocked down my tower!"

The monster looked at the blocks questioningly and then at Mitch. Instantly it jumped up and swallowed Mitch whole. With the little boy in his belly, the monster continued playing with the blocks.

Mitch's father entered the living room again and sat down to watch TV. The monster walked up to the man and growled.

"That's nice, Mitch," the man replied eyes glued to the TV.

The monster, being only the size of a six-year-old left the man there, and walked into the kitchen. Mitch's mother was still there punching in numbers. The monster walked up to her and let out his fiercest howl.

"That's nice, Mitch," she said.

Confused the monster headed back into the living room where he could play with the blocks and occasionally eat one. He found the blocks were tasty. Not as tasty as the boy, but still tasty.

Before he could leave the kitchen, the woman at the table stopped him. "It's time for bed, young man," she said. She got up and fixed a glass of milk. She handed it to the monster. "Here's your milk. Now go right up to your room. Your dad and I will be there in a minute.

The monster was really confused now. He drank the milk, and ate the glass. He then did as the woman told and went up to the boy's room. He crawled into the bed. It was the first time he had been IN a bed and not UNDER. The two people walked into the room after a few minutes. They tucked the monster in, and kissed him good night.

"Sweet dreams," the woman said standing at the door.

"But... But, I'm a monster," the monster said.

"That's nice, Mitch," the two people said as they closed the door.

That's Nice Mitch copyright 1997 by Lance Holloway.