Timmy Newton Fergus McFife
Couldn’t spell to save his life.
The big spelling test was the very next day
And there was no way he’d get an A.

He sat and thought about much he despised spelling
When a voice crept into his hearing, sweet, rough and very compelling.
“I am the monster under your mattress,” it seemed to shout,
“You’re trapped by this awful test but I know your way out.
I’ll eat the papers, pencils, pens and desks,” the monster said.
“Without the tools for the evaluation, you’ll have liberation!
Just let me out from under your bed.”

Timmy Newton Fergus McFife
Was giddy with glee to have found an end to his strife
“Deal!” he cried and shook the monsters clawed paws
Then fell asleep before he heard the beast laugh very, very hard.

The morning of the test, Timmy Newton Fergus McFife woke up,
Ate breakfast, brushed his teeth, and let the monster out.
The beast walked him to school and his classroom on the first floor,
But before they could step in, the monster gobbled up the door!
The children screamed as the monster dashed in
And devoured desks, pencils, papers and the trash bin!
He ate the tests, the lunch boxes, the finger paint art,
The posters, the books, the blackboard and the chalk,
The coats in the cubbies, the backpacks on hooks,
And the little class hamster named Francis McCrook.

Before Timmy could ask him to stop
The beast chewed a hole in the wall and through it he hopped!

He ran outside to the play structure and opened his jaws
To swallow the slide, the swings, and the see-saws,
He snacked on tetherballs, basketballs, volleyballs,
Ping pong balls, kick balls, and soccer balls, all without pause!
He chewed on the monkey bars, the sand box then smacked his teeth
When there was nothing but black top left to be seen

The monster stormed through the school and tossed into his pie hole
The kindergarteners, the first graders, the second graders and more!
The third graders, the fourth graders, the fifth graders and
The teachers, the school nurse, the principal man
With each bite the monster grew and grew
But no way was his lunch anywhere near through!

The beast ate the librarian with her overdue books,
The bald old custodian who gives kids dirty looks,
The superintendent and his fancy blue car,
Even the cafeteria ladies and their food that tastes like tar.

The monster gobbled and devoured and chomped and chewed.
He even used the school buildings as food!
So that the only thing Timmy Newton Fergus McFife could see
Was an empty black top where the school used to be.

“Well,” cooed the monster who was the size of eight whales,
“Are you happy there is no test left to fail?”
But the monster had eaten all Timmy held dear
“At least no test, no quiz, no assignment is left to fear,”
Said the monster, “But my lunch is not through
“I think I have enough room-

“FOR A FEW BITES OF YOU!”

Timmy Newton Fergus McFife
Woke up in his room filled with morning light.
It was the morning of the spelling test, the monster had been a dream
And so Timmy Newton Fergus McFife breathed a sigh of relief.
He grabbed a Pop Tart, walked to the school and sat down at his desk
Pulled out a pencil and began to take his test.
The boy learned a lot from his dream, however strange
But there was still one thing that hadn’t changed.

Timmy Newton Fergus McFife
Still couldn’t spell to save his life.

His teacher gave him a big fat F written in red.
But Timmy didn’t care: so long as the monster stayed under his bed.

THE END