The Monster Who Ate Darkness

Jo-Jo can’t sleep as he thinks a monster may be lurking in the darkness under his bed. Surprisingly, on this occasion, he is right! Under his bed is a tiny, non-threatening and extremely hungry monster looking for something to satisfy his enormous appetite. He discovers that he loves to eat darkness, which he gobbles up greedily with his long tongue. When he has sucked all the blackness out of the boy’s bedroom, he leaves to explore the world outside and devours every scrap of darkness he can find lurking in cellars, ditches, caves, rabbit holes and volcanoes. His body grows larger and larger as he continues to eat, until he is so big and so hungry that he has eaten every last scrap of darkness in the entire world and there is no longer any proper night time. The monster looks down upon the Earth from a lonely planet and feels very sad as he realises the problems he has caused. Nocturnal animals are upset and confused, and cat’s eyes no longer shine. He hears Jo-Jo crying in his bedroom far away because it is too light for him to get to sleep. The monster creeps back to the little boy and cradles him in the vast blackness of his arms, rocking and comforting him to sleep. The monster loses his hunger and as he too falls asleep, the blackness oozes from his body and once again restores the night to darkness. The monster is once again a tiny peaceful speck, fast asleep in the boy’s arms.