Amir didn't want to go to bed. "No!" he shouted. " I won't! No-o-o!""Why not?" said his dad. "Your bed's all cosy and warm, and look, Teddy's waiting for you, right there on the pillow.""But I'm scared of the dark," said Amir. "There might be a - a - a..." "A what?" said Dad."... a monster," whispered Amir. "He might come in the night, and he might have huge teeth and growl like a lion. He might try to eat me.""Well," said Dad. "If he does come, show him your teeth and growl even louder. Like a tiger. You can be really scary when you try, Amir. You'll terrify him.""But what if he's not scared ? What if he doesn't run away but just stands there and then jumps on me and eats me up?""If he tries any of that nonsense," said Amir's dad, "you'll call for me and I'll come running in with my frying pan, and I'll shake it at him. That'll do the trick.""But what if my monster's got a dad too?" said Amir. "And what if he shouts forhim, and he comes, and his frying pan's bigger than yours, and he eats you up while the little monster's eating me?""In that case," said his dad, "we'll call for your mum, and she'll come with her big umbrella, the one with a picture of a tiger on it, and she'll flap it in the big monster's face and the big monster will be so scared he'll go down on his knees and beg for mercy." Excerpted from Grobblechops by Elizabeth Laird All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
