A Girl and her Monster

A cardboard monster I made in our classroom changed everything...



My name is Rana. I am eight years old and a Grade Three student. My mother and I moved back to our hometown after my father joined the stars. We hoped for a fresh start and to build roots again, but I also found something else-a strange kind of magic. I made friends, but not all of them are children like me. Some of them are monsters.



One of them is my own creation: Shadow Blue. He has bright yellow eyes and silvery arms, with a body a deep sky color that looked like the shadows just before sunset. He was my art project; a piece of cardboard, glue, and endless possibilities.



But when night falls, he becomes something-or someone-else. Could I really be a girl with a monster friend, or is there another story, a secret I was never meant to know?