Carter knew his mother would send him there again. He hated it there. The lights were bright white; enhanced by their glare off the large pristine white tiles. The low steady hum of the coolers kept the air frigid and kept the product fresh. Happy music played softly from above, but it never made him feel happy. Today would be no different. Today Carter’s mother would send him there again, to the way back.
Carter walked slowly, dodging all the adults who never noticed him. He walked so slowly he was almost standing still. From here he could see it. All the clear doors with their shiny metal handles lined the wall. A big kid opened one of the doors and Carter could feel the ice-cold air billow out like smoke. The kid quickly closed it again and walked away. How can they do that so fearlessly, do they not see the monster? Carter could only stand there frozen. The happy music was drowned out by the squishy sweeping noise that came every time someone opened one of those doors. Followed by a thud as the door swung back. He stood there, watching and listening, mesmerized by the sounds.
His heart raced as he stepped closer to one of the doors. Carter reached up and grabbed the handle. The flap on the bottom of the door made that familiar sweeping noise as he slowly opened it. A fog of cold air rolled out and blanketed him. He stood there, frozen again, staring up at the white jugs stacked so high above him. It reminded him of standing next to the tall buildings downtown and looking up at all the windows; he used to wonder what were behind those windows. But Carter did not have to imagine what was behind the towers of jugs. He knew what was back there. He had seen it every time. Behind the jugs was where the monster lived.
The first time Carter noticed the monster was eight months ago. His mother had sent him to the way back alone for the first time; he was finally at an age where she could trust him to be more independent. That time, carter only got a glimpse, but his contact with the monster had been increasing ever since. The last time his mother sent him to the way back, the monster actually spoke to him. He knew eventually the monster would steal him and pull him into the cold darkness of the farther back.
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His arms were starting to get colder now, so he knew he needed to hurry. The closest jug was too far back and too heavy for Carter to reach without letting go of the door. He could sense the monster grinning at that realization. Carter took a breath and let go of the door. He caught it with his backside, preventing the thud that always followed the sweeping sound. But now he had to step forward, closer to the jugs, deeper into the freezer.
He grabbed the jug with both hands, but it would not come free. He could hear the wet lips of the monster rub against its teeth as its mouth formed a smile. Carter frantically wrestled with the jug. Green eyes faded into existence in the darkness just beyond the shelves. A skinny grey hand was beginning to reach from the dark and into the light, coming to take him. The monster’s hand brushed past Carter’s fingers and kept coming toward him. Its arm kept extending and the hand kept reaching toward Carter, slowly. Carter was panicking, today is going to be the day that he grabs me by the shirt and pulls me into the farther back. He gave one final tug and the jug broke free. Carter fell backwards out of the freezer and spilled across the shiny white floor; thankfully, his jug did not.
He looked up at the tower of jugs and watched the door slowly close, sweep…thud. The long arm slowly receded back into nothingness. But the glowing green eyes remained, floating above a large gross smile, barely visible in the dark behind the shelves. Carter stood up in a hurry and tried not to cry as he ran back to his mother with the gallon of milk. He knew next time the milk monster might finally take him.