another two months pass...

This one was a killer. Took me way too long to finish. I got obsessed with making wallpaper in perspective, which I'm still not satisfied with. And I discovered that interior night scenes with moonlight as the sole light source is very challenging for me. I guess its good enough for now. I like this less than my Vegetable Butcher piece (my opinions of which can be read in this blog), probably because it was motivated by a desire to make something marketable. I was thinking something along the lines of: hmm... a play on monster under the bed, cute little girl, child's bedroom, very children'sbook-y..... they've got to love this! But in the end, it feels like a cop-out to me. Additionally, after searching 'monster under the bed' on google obsessively a couple of times a week, I found someone who had already pulled the switch I was in the middle of illustrating (granted, it was more in the Monsters Inc vein, with the monster being afraid of the kid (an obvious choice) and pretty crappily done, BUT it still meant I wasn't being original). Anyhow, here are a couple story sketches for "The Proposition."

Maive wasn't your average eight year old. She wasn't afraid of anything. Heights, Spiders, Clowns, you name it. So she was unimpressed when she woke up in the middle of the night from the low groans and snorts that were coming from below her bed.
"Whoever you are, quiet down! I'm trying to sleep," grumbled Maive.
"Rarrr... I'll eat you," whined the voice halfheartedly.
"You'll eat me?"
"Well, that's what we monsters do, right?"
"Oh. So you're a monster then?" Maive wondered if there was a way she might be able to silence this creature. Her mom used to sing a lullaby to put her to sleep-maybe that would work. So she started singing.
"A lullaby, for me? How sweet," said the monster. "Why don't you come down here so I can hear it better?"
Without thinking, Maive hopped down to the floor and no sooner than she had done this, a tail whipped out from under the bed, wrapping itself tightly around her. Any normal child would have known better than listening to a monster under the bed or for that matter, closet. All children know, quite instinctively, that if one leaves the mystical protection of one's covers, one places oneself in a situation of mortal peril; To touch even one foot, one toe, to the floor is practically suicide. To survive bedroom monsters of any kind is a waiting game: a child must wait for safety, either in the form of an adult parent or guardian escort or the visible rising of the sun. But Maive was not your ordinary child, and because she had no fear of monsters, that night she found herself in one's clutches.
"Put me down!" she insisted. The monster's grip lightened, but only slightly. "At least come out here so I can see you face to face!" Slowly, tenatively, the hulking form of the monster crawled out from under the bed. It was at least nine feet tall, when it wasn't slouching, a mess of thick fur and scales. It stretched out its long arms until spindly claws glanced the walls on either side of the room. Rows of yellowed teeth, razor sharp were bared as the monster opened its warty snout, squinted though puffy little eyes--and sneezed. A cloud of dust rose off its massive frame.
"Cover your mouth!" Maive demanded. "You'll get snot all over my pajamas."
"Sorry," said the monster, "It's just so dusty down there. Wrecks havoc with my allergies."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's cut the chitchat. Are going to eat me or what? 'Cause I'd just as soon get the experience over with."
"Well," the monster muttered, twiddling its thumbs, "that's what it says in the handbook. But the thing is..."
"What?" fumed the eight year old.
"Kids give me really terrible indigestion." the monster scratched the back of its neck awkwardly. "Really, I prefer garbage. The occasional sock, car keys, a hamster if I'm lucky enough for one to wander under the bed."
"Listen, I'm sure it gets lonely down there and it's rare that you get the chance for much conversation, and as interesting as your dietary habits are, it's a school night and I've got an important spelling test tomorrow, so if you're not going to eat me, I'd suggest that you go back where you came--Hey! So that's what happened to Mister Fluff!"
"Sorry," said the monster, looking away. "I thought we could work out some sort of a deal... a proposition..." it trailed off, embarrassed.
"Well?" pressed Maive.
"Either I eat you... or we switch places for the night?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well really, all I want is a good night's rest for a change. A nice soft mattress, blanket, pillow..." Its baggy eyes went glossy.
"And I'm supposed to sleep under the bed? Ridiculous!"
"If you don't, then another monster will take my spot. Good property is scarce around here. Monsters are always vying for the best spots--."
"Alright. I get it," said the grumpy little girl. "I sleep under the bed or you eat me. Some deal."
"I'm glad we have an agreement," said the stuffed up monster, finally releasing the grip of its tail and thrusting a claw around Maive's tiny hand. It promptly installed itself in the bed and nudged Maive underneath with the tip of its tail. "Why don't you sing some of that lullaby for me again?" the monster mumbled sleepily. She was able to sing about as long as she had before, and then was drowned out by gurgling snores.
The floor was hard. The carpet itched. Bedsprings squeaked in the sagging mass directly above her. Maive couldn't sleep. Bored and tired, she spent the remainder of the night practicing her spelling.
S-T-U-P-I-D.
J-E-R-K.
C-H-E-A-T-E-R.

****

Alternate ending 1:

So it continued for the next week. And the next. Maive was exhausted. She couldn't take it anymore. Night after night, the same proposition, the same short end of the stick. Something had to be done.
"Look, I'm quite familiar with the deal," Maive interrupted one night, "but I've got a new proposition."
"If it doesn't involve a bed, the negotiations stop here."
"Oh, it involves a bed," said Maive with a smirk, "I heard my parents talking the other day. My little brother is getting a brand new bed. The mattress is being delivered tomorrow."

More to come later!