The Floating Skull

When I was really young, I bought a plastic model kit of a human skull (I guess my mother must have bought it for me now that I think about it). Made by the Skillcraft Company, it was pretty detailed and complex, some of the teeth were in two pieces and required assembly. The end result was a neat anatomically correct human skull, and the coup de grâce - it was made from glow-in-the-dark plastic. Anything that glows green in the dark is an instant obsession to a boy. I spent way too much time studying it in the dark... seeing how bright I could get it to glow by leaving it on the top of a lamp for a really long time, or making dark hand prints on it by keeping my hand on it while bathing it in light.

One night after turning off the lights and going to bed, my brother and I heard a noise from the closet. It was one of those moments where you freeze and attempt to process what's happening. Then we heard the closet door slowly begin to open. Out floated a glowing green skull in a pitch black room. It was a combination of horrified screams and uncontrollable laughter as it floated towards us and dove at us. It made figure-8's in the air before it came back for another attack. You could hear my dad stifling his laughter at the end of the assault as the skull opened our bedroom door and floated out and away.

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