When the Boogeyman Enters Your House
When the Boogeyman enters your house, he doesn’t ring the doorbell. He sneaks in through the thick darkness of night when you’re peacefully sleeping and basking in innocent naivety.
When the Boogeyman enters your house, you don’t believe he could really be there. You’ve taken the precautions, the measures to make sure he doesn’t get in. You’ve washed extra, worn a mask, avoided friends. You’ve done everything to avoid him. It’s not really him. No way.
When the Boogeyman enters your house, he waits to let you know he’s actually there, how long he’s been there, how long he plans to stay. He leaves you guessing, wondering, questioning your past actions that invited him, how to host him in the present and how soon in the future you can be rid of him.
When the Boogeyman enters your house, he doesn’t look like what you thought he would. He’s ugly, yes, but not the kind of ugly you’ve read about: a gnarly beast that ravages your body, leaving you breathless and gasping for air. He’s actually… mild. Well, at least to you. But knowing he’s a shapeshifter that takes on more hellish forms to others leaves you terrified.
When the Boogeyman enters your house, it’s as if you’ve never heard of him. You’ve been reading and listening about him for months, but suddenly you know nothing. You starve for information as you worry for your family. You trust all and no sources at once.
When the Boogeyman enters your house, you can’t eat or sleep the same, not for lack of appetite but the constant stream of thoughts racing through your infected mind. Everything you touch, every sneeze, every cough, every throat clear, every droplet of saliva and snot. You cannot stop wondering if you’ve spread his terror by just existing in your ecosystem.
When the Boogeyman enters your house, it’s not a private ordeal. You do the right thing and tell everyone you should, let it be known the Boogeyman is visiting and that they should stay away. That they should check under their own bed, test the sheets for him visiting their house too. It’s a public nightmare as much as a private situation.
When the Boogeyman enters your house, he brings with him so much unexpected shame. Shame you feel is unwarranted, but that makes you question how responsible you really were. Did you take this seriously enough or did you let the naysayers who said “keep on livin’” scale back your caution just enough for him to get in? After all, you have left the house for non-essentials, even if you did it in a mask.
When the Boogeyman enters your house, he leaves you more depressed than scared for your safety. You feel sad about your situation, anxious about being stuck inside for the next 14 days, worried for your loved ones who are potentially impacted, guilty for the innocent souls you’ve come into contact with unknowingly who will find out they were potentially exposed.
When the Boogeyman enters your house, you feel bad for all your feelings. You know he’s murdered hundreds of thousands, that even though you’re still in it, you’re probably going to be fine and the worst of your symptoms are still considered mild. You are one of the lucky ones and while he wants you to complain, you know you shouldn’t.
When the Boogeyman enters your house, there’s nothing you can do. You’re as helpless as ever. You can ease the sting of his bites with Tylenol and cough drops, but you can’t kick him out the door or cut his visit short.
When the Boogeyman enters your house you have no choice but to sit beside him, offer him some tea and wait for him to leave.
