【英文读物】Don't Think About It

【英文读物】Don1! Think About ItChapter 1Tommy wasnt really a timid child. Sometimes he didnt understand things and was puzzled.More often, grown-ups couldnt or wouldnt understand things that were perfectly clear to himand he was more puzzled. Occasionally such things worried and even upset him a little. ThenMomma and sometimes Daddy would translate bafflement into silly adult terms and think thathe was afraid.It was that way about the hole in the closet when Tommy was just a bit over three. Tommy wasntreally afraid. Mr. Bear was afraid and the thing did puzzle Tommy. So he asked about it, but henever did get any sensible or satisfactory answers, and that did worry and perhaps even upsethim a little.But he wasnt afraid, even before Daddy finally told him, Now, Tommy, boy. Dont think about itand it wont scare you. Really, there is nothing there to hurt you, if you just dont think about it.So dont you think about it any more一theres Daddys big boy.This certainly was not any sort of explanation. But still Tommy did try hard not to think about it,as Daddy said. And now he really doesnt think about it at all any more. Or about Aunt Martha,either.The hole was in the closet in Tommys room. Tommy and Momma and Daddy lived in a not verybig, not very new frame house on the edge of the city and Aunt Martha lived with them. Tommydidntat least not yet, although there were promiseshave any brothers or sisters. But he didhave his own room and a family of his own, too. It was the extra bedroom and it had a closet thatwas cramped and with no light. Tommy liked his room. It was small, with a small bed, and itbelonged to him, along with his family of Mr. Bear and Old Rabbit and Ko key Koala. It was also ineasy crying range of Momma and Daddys room and Aunt Marthas room, so if Mr. Bear, who wasthe timid one, got frightened in the night, Tommy could cry一purely in Mr. Bears behalf一tobring help. Or at least company.Tommy and his family all liked the closet well enough too, except for the shelf that was out ofreach even from the dont climb stool. The closet was good to hide in or play bear cave orrabbit hole and fine for finding missing toys after Momma had a spell of playing cleaning house.The day Tommy found the hole in the closet was the week after his third birthday. Daddy was atwork. Momma was out shopping. It was a rainy afternoon. Aunt Martha was sitting with Tommyand the afternoon television.He was in his room with his family and they all agreed as soon as they heard the televisioncoming on strong that it would be a very poor afternoon to waste on a nap. Besides, Mr. Bearsfeelings had been hurt by having been somewhat left out of things recently in favor of newbirthday presents, now largely broken or tiresome. To make it up to him, Tommy and Old Rabbitand Ko key all agreed to play bear cave in the closet. It was a nice game and going well enough,except for some grumbling from Ko key Koala, who always wanted to argue and claimed thatbears lived in trees, not caves.But thenand it was Mr. Bear*s fault for wanting it darker, so he could hibernatethe closetdoor shut tight. That didnt seem so serious at first. It would only mean a scolding for being out ofbed when Aunt Martha would come to open it after Tommy hollered loud enough. And thenthere was the hole in the closet, back in the corner next to the broken drum. They all saw it andthey heard the Ugly Thing talking or thinking at them. It stretched out a part of itself at Mr. Bear,who was the closest.It didnt grab Mr. Bear, but he was terrified just the same. And none of them liked it. They didntlike it at all. The Ugly Thing couldnt come out of the hole because the hole wasnt big enough yet,but it tried and it was making the hole bigger. And it kept thinking at them, red thoughts, andhungry, as it tore at the edges of the hole. The family all looked to Tommy, so Tommy cried andyelled.Finally Aunt Martha heard him and came to open the door. Then the afternoon sunlight streamedacross the floor into the closet and the ugly red thoughts from the Thing pulled back, far back, soyou could barely notice them, and you couldnt see the hole any more, even though you knew itwas still there. At least Tommy and Mr. Bear and Old Rabbit and Ko key Koala knew.After she opened the closet door and carried Tommy from the closet to the living room, AuntMartha scolded. She wasnt really mad because she had waited until a commercial interruptedher television program before answering the cries from the closet. But she scolded because shewas Aunt Martha and scolding was what Aunt Martha did. A really good cry, even one worked upstrictly as a service for a companion, takes a little time to turn off. Then, after a few settling gulps,Tommy tried to explain.Auntie. Aunt Martha, theres a hole in the cave一in the closet一and theres a Thing inside of it.He looked at Mr. Bear whom he was holding by one foot and at Ko key, dropped by Aunt Marthaon the sofa, for confirmation. Then, quickly, he wriggled down from Aunties lap. Old Rabbit!Bravely, Tommy ran to the closet and was relieved. The door was open and, in the gray afternoonlight, the hole was still not to be seen. Old Rabbit, who always had a bad temper; was annoyedand snappish at having been left behind. But he was there and all right. Tommy rescued him andran back to Aunt Martha.It was hungry, he continued his explanation.Aunt Martha, as always, was difficult. Who is hungry? You shouldnt be hungry, Tommy. You justhad your lunch an hour ago. Do you want a glass of milk?Not me hungry. Tommy was impatient. Aunt Martha never seemed able to grasp any idea morecomplex than a glass of milk or wet pants. Little boys, in her mind, nearly always either wantedthe one or had the other. Such things she could and did attend to with a virtuous sense of dutydone. But anything else was beyond her.Tommy! Are your pants wet?Tommy sighed in resignation and wet his pants. It was the only thing to do. Otherwise Auntiewould fuss and fume, accomplishing nothing, understanding nothing, for the rest of theafternoon.Ten minutes later, in dry pants, he finished an unwanted glass of milk. Aunt Martha, conscienceappeased, returned to soap opera. Tommy and his family, nap safely forgotten, played away theafternoon一but not in the closet or even, as was usual on rainy days, in Tommys room. Instead,finding Daddys old briefcase full of papers, they played office in the family room, with Old Rabbitgrumbling about having to be Miss Wicksey, who drove the electric typewriter in Daddys office.Momma and Daddy came home together at a bit after five. Tommy took his scolding aboutmessing up Daddys papers in good part. He had expected it. But Aunt Martha was angry aboutthe scolding she got for letting him, mild though it was.In retaliation, she said, Tommy, you were a naughty, naughty boy. And for being so naughty youmust take your big bear and your rabbit and the little bear or whatever the thing is and put themaway in the closet. And leave them there till tomorrow.No! No, no, no, I wont! It isnt fair. They werent bad. And the Ugly Thing is in the hole and itmight come out and its hungry and一and my family is all afraid.Tommy! Aunt Marthas voice was sharp. You stop that nonsense and put your toys一Wait. Wait up now/ said Daddy, who also lived in the grown-up world, but who sometimes triedto understand things. What is this about a hole in the closet? What about something beinghungry?Thats all, said Tommy. The Ugly Thing in the hole in the closet. It is hungry.There was more to it than that, of course, but how could a thing like that be explained through awall of grown, closed minds? There was the hole in the closet. You couldnt exactly see it. Youcould only sort of feel seeing it and the hairy Thingat least it seemed hairy and shapeless, orhaving many different shapes and a mouth and sharp teeth一and it had reached out withsomething and touched Mr. Bear and would have eaten him too, if he had blood. But then it hadpulled back from Mr. Bear and red hunger thoughts came stronger and stronger. Even now,stretching out from the hole where it was hidden there in the closet, Tommy could feel thereaching, greedy thoughts. But he couldnt explain all that.There is a hole in the closet, Tommy said again.But he knew that not even Daddy would understand. Of course Momma wouldnt. Not Momma,who was loving but very busy and just sat so often, dreaming or listening to baby sister that theysaid was in her stomach, so big and fat now as to leave little lap room. Momma was too occupiedlooking inward to look out much at Tommy. Daddy, to give him credit, was nearly always willing tolook, but there were so many things he couldnt see. Still Tommy had to try.The Ugly Thing in the hole. It wants something to eat.Oh, Tommy! Such horrible nonsense! That was Momma. She wasnt even going to think aboutit. It is a question sometimes whether baby sisters are worth all the bother and trouble.Now, Tommy. Daddy was being helpful. You say there is a hole in your closet? And that there issomething in the hole?Well-ll. Sort of. Really, the Ugly Thing wasnt so much in the hole as on the other side of it. Butthat was close enough.All right then, Tommy. Suppose you show it to me.“What?”Show me the hole, Tommy.“Now?”nYes.HThe hole in the closet?Tommy!Yes, Daddy. This wasnt going to work out to anything good and Tommy didnt want to go backto the closet and close the closet door anyway. The Thing didnt eat Mr. Bear because Mr. Beardidnt have blood. But Daddy had and . Tommy!They went to the closet. At least, if he was risking a Daddy, Tommy thought, he was protecting Mr.Bear and the others.Now where is this hole, Tommy?Over there by the corner. Tommy pointed.Daddy went into the closet to look. Tommy started to close the door. In the black dark, Daddywould see what Tommy meant about the Thing in the hole. From the outside, Tommy started toclose the door. It was a small closet and hardly big enough for both of them.Tommy! What are you trying to do? Open that door.ButAfter all, the hole wasnt there, or scarcely seemed to be there, except in the dark.Open it up wider. Hm-m. I believe I do see. Wait till I get my lighter. Say, by George, I believeyoure right. There is a little hole there. Looks like a mouse hole.1There it was, as Tommy might have known. Grown-ups will always avoid seeing the importantthings. Of course there was a mouse hole there, the home of the little old Mr. Mouse with thewiggly nose and the gray whiskers. He had been nice. But he wasnt there any more and Tommyhad a pretty clear idea of what had happened to him. That poor little old Mr. Mouse had hadblood.But, DaddyIt was hopeless. Dorrie! Martha! Daddys hunting instinct was aroused. Have we got a mousetrap? Any cheese? There is a hole in that closet, a little old mouse hole and Im going to一Well, perhaps this would be better than if he hadnt found anything.Tommy followed Daddy about as he finally located a mouse trap. No cheese? He cut a little pieceof meat for bait. Of course Tommy knew no trap would catch the Ugly Thing.What in the world happened to my lighter? Daddy wanted to know. Tommy didnt answer that.But at least everybody, even Aunt Martha, had forgotten about shutting Tommys family up in thecloset. For now that was enough.But later; after supper, after bath, after the shooting picture on the TV, it was time for bed.“Daddy?”Get on to bed now, son. Past bedtime. Hop to it.Daddy, I want to sleep with you and Momma tonight.Well, it was a mighty dark night. The afternoon rain had built up into a real storm. Mr. Bear wasterrified. Ko key was scared and even tough Old Rabbit didnt want to sleep in Tommys room withthe Ugly Thing in the hole so hungry and waiting to rip its way out of the hole when it got darkenough一and only the street light outside the room to keep away the dark because they wouldnever let Tommy keep his light on at night.My family and me dont want to sleep in my room tonight.Now, Tommy, just because its a little stormy一Daddys big boy isnt afraid of a little wind andrain?Im not afraid, Daddy. Its my family. You know how families are. You always say about MommaIINever mind that now. To bed. Your own bed.But Daddy, theres the Ugly Thing in the hole! And its hungry!The mouse?Daddy went to look at his trap, switching on the light in Tommys room. He came back in aminute.HThe little devil!Did Daddy know? No.The little devil got away with the bait, clean as a whistle. Only a little plaster dust or somethingleft in the trap where I put the meat.Mr. Bear shivered. Now dont be foolish, Bear. You dont have blood. The Ugly Thing wont getyou, Tommy told him softly. But Mr. Bear wouldnt listen. He was a cry-baby, a scaredy-cat. Butto tell the truth一the real, honest truth一the whole family and even Tommy didnt feel too goodabout it.Tommy? What was that you were saying?Daddy! I wanna sleep with you and Momma. Me and my family. Were scared of that Thing.Tommy knew it was no less than his duty to protect them all.Oh, now, Tommy! You dont mean to say youre afraid of a little old mouse? A big boy like you?Well, Mr. Bear isI dontDaddy! It is there, honest it is, in that hole and its hungry and itllcome out in the dark and一Tommy! A little mouse! Get on into your room now and no more argument.Tommys face began to crumple. If he had to, he would fight this one out all the waytears,tantrum, kick, scream, gasp, hold his breath and turn blue一Now, now, Tommy-boy. Daddy did mean well and sometimes he was even right and so Tommyalways did try to do what Daddy said. Tommy, you mustnt let things like that bother you. If wecant catch the little mouse, forget it. Theres nothing more we can do, so just dont think about it.You see?Sniff. No.Dont think about it, thats all. There is nothing there that can hurt you, if you just dont thinkabout it. So dont think about itthats Daddys big boy.Well-IL. And then can we sleep with you and Momma?1Aunt Martha rang in her nickels worth. A boy ought to be ashamed to be afraid of a littlemouse.“Its notHNot what?HUhits Mr. Bear thats afraid. Of theAnd you just stop that nonsense about those ridiculous stuffed animals, you hear me? Nobodyshould make such a fuss about a little mouse.Momma does. Momma! Tommy let two fat tears trickle down his cheeks, a warning, but hemeant them too. Momma-a-a, cant weAll right, all right! Stop this stupid wrangling! You know how it gets on my nerves. For goodness*sake, let him sleep with us tonight. Anyway, I dont blame him. I wouldnt sleep a wink in thesame room with a mouse. Be sure you shut our door tonight. Tight.Youre spoiling the child, said Aunt Martha sourly.Auntie/1 said Tommy, I bet youre chicken to let your door stay open.Well! huffed Aunt Martha. The impertinence! I certainly shall keep my door open. No mouse isgoing to keep me from getting good, fresh air.Tommy was a very bright little boy. Now, with the door shut in Momma and Daddys room, andAunt Marthas door open, he wouldnt think about the Ugly Thing in the hole一waiting for dark,real dark一to come out一and eat.All right, Tommy. This once you can sleep with your mother and me. Get on to bed and mind yousleep quiet. And dont spread those stuff一your family all over the bed either.Yes, Daddy. And, Daddyn“What?”I wont think about it now, the Thing in the hole.Tommy said his good nights. Tonight he even kissed Aunt Martha as if he meant it. And he tookhis family and he went to bed in Momma and Daddys room.He did not think about the Ugly Thing. He went right to sleep, lying at the edge of the big, big bed.Tommy, and Old Rabbit, and Ko key Koala, and even Mr. Bear went right to sleep.Outside the wind blew hard and harder and the rain drove down and it was dark. The televisionreception was bad. Everyone went to bed early. Good night. Lights out.In Tommys room it was quite dark with only the faint, watery rays of the street light on thecorner swimming in through the rain. In the closet there was a stirring, a fumbling, a tearing andthe hole in the blackness grew, was forced, bigger, wider, as the Thing pushed and ripped atwhatever was barring it from the warm, red, oozing food it craved; it must have; it would have.And, in a sudden gust, the wind blew harder still. Somewhere in town, blocks away, a wire felland blue sparks flashed and crackled in the dripping night. In Tommys house the refrigeratorwent off, the electric clocks stopped. The street light blinked once and was gone and in Tommyscloset there was a sudden, mighty surge of effort, a break, and something, not a sound, butsomething, a harsh and bloody sense or feel of rending greed flowing outward from the closet ina wave.Aunt Martha, in her sleep, said, No. Oh, no!Daddy interrupted a snore with a strained grunt. Momma whimpered softly and hugged toherself her swollen stomach.Tommy blinked and was awake. Soothingly, he patted Ko key and Old Rabbit. He squeezed Mr.Bears paw. Then he slipped his hand into the opening in Mr. Bears overalls and took out Daddyscigarette lighter. He knew how to work it. But first he waited.Dont think about it, Daddy had told him and he didnt think about it, really. But he couldnthelp feeling it. The Ugly Thing was out, clear out of the hole now, and moving. He could feel thatand the awful hunger moving with it. Aunt Marthas room was closest and her door was open.Momma and Daddys room was closed. The Ugly Thing moved fast, faster, and reached out,thirsting, hungering.From Aunt Marthas room came the quavering wail and from the Thing there flowed a sense ofvicious, evil joy.There it was, but was it enough?Tommy hugged Mr. Bear once, tightly, and slipped noiselessly from the bed. He wasnt thinkingabout it, he couldnt, he wouldnt think about it. But he knew what he had to do. He had thelighter. At the bedroom door he worked it. Opened the door a crack; thrust it out. And then, in alittle rush, back to bed where he lay quietly, and he didnt think about it, he and Mr. Bear and OldRabbit and Ko key Koala.After a little, the sense of feeding hunger was gone and the feel of the Ugly Thing was gone, backinto the hole in the closet, forced back by the flickering yellow light of the flames started by thecigarette lighter. Then, when the smell of smoke grew thick in the room and he could hear thecrackling of the fire burning the house, Tommy shook Daddy awake.It wasnt hard to get out through the bedroom window, except for Momma. But she made it allright. And Tommy had a little trouble holding tightly to each member of his family as Daddy lifted