My Friend Fred

I have a friend. His name is Fred. Fred is always with me. No one else can see Fred—just me.

Fred is very tall and has long yellow fur with big black spots. He has claws on his hands and feet, and he has big, sharp teeth. If anyone else could see Fred, they would think he looked scary. But he’s not scary. He’s scared. He’s my fear.

Fred sleeps at the foot of my bed. Sometimes he thinks he hears noises from the closet or under the bed. I used to hear them too. I would have to call Dad in to check and make sure there were no monsters under the bed. And then he had to check and make sure there were no monsters in the closet. That was back when I was a little kid. Now I’m older, so I don’t need my Dad to help me with this anymore. When Fred thinks he hears noises, I can check for myself.

Fred stays in bed, usually with his head buried in his blanket.

First I check under the bed and then I check in the closet, just to show him that there are no monsters in either place.

He is always grateful that I check for him. I don’t mind, especially since if I don’t check for him and show him that there are no monsters, he can’t get to sleep. And if Fred can’t sleep, then I can’t sleep either. He wiggles and tickles and tosses and turns, and it is impossible to fall asleep. So I make sure that Fred is okay.

Sometimes Fred helps me. When I see a pot on the stove and I want to touch it and look at what’s inside, Fred will grab my hand. He is afraid I will get burned. Or sometimes when we’re playing ball, the ball gets away from us and rolls into the street. I want to run after it, but Fred stops me. He worries that something bad might happen to me. I could get hurt running into the street like that. Or sometimes I will meet someone new, at the park or maybe in a restaurant. A lot of times when I meet someone new, I just get the chance to make a new friend. But every once in awhile, there will be something about the person I’m meeting that makes me feel funny, like I have a stomachache. When that happens, Fred takes my hand and leads me away from the scary stranger. We go find my parents or Grandma or an adult we know we can trust. They always help us.

Sometimes when I am playing or doing chores or getting dressed, there will be something that I can’t do for myself. I want to go ask someone for help. Sometimes Fred tries to stop me. He tells me that if I ask for help, that Mom will think I’m stupid or that Dad will get mad at me for interrupting him. But I tell Fred that it will be okay. So we go together and ask for help.

Sometimes it doesn’t turn out so well. There are days that Mom is in a bad mood or Dad is tired, and they aren’t happy with me for being small and not knowing as much as they do yet. Sometimes they yell at us. But they apologize later and tell us that it wasn’t our fault they were angry. But most of the time I get the help I need and everything is fine.

Last week was my first day of kindergarten. Fred was very nervous. The week before, he hadn’t been sleeping much. (And you know what that means—I hadn’t been sleeping much either.) Mom helped me pick out a new outfit to wear, and I got brand new sneakers. I was a little nervous about starting kindergarten, but Fred was terrified. He didn’t want to go at all.

He hid out in the bed all morning. He hid there while I got dressed. He hid there while I ate my breakfast. He hid there while I brushed my teeth.

Then it was time for me to go to kindergarten. I went to my bed and pulled the covers back, so I could see Fred and talk to him. I told him everything would be okay. He didn’t believe me. I told him that he had to come anyway. I certainly couldn’t go to kindergarten without him.

So he came out from under the covers, and we went downstairs. Mom drove us to the school and walked inside with us. I was glad she did that, because I didn’t know where our classroom was.

Fred was really scared, so I held his hand as we walked down the hallway.

Our new teacher was standing at the doorway. Mom told us that her name was Mrs. Jenkins. I liked her right away. Fred wasn’t so sure that he liked her, so he hid behind me. It probably looked funny to have Fred hiding behind me, especially since he is so big and scary looking. That is, if anyone else could’ve seen him. Mrs. Jenkins told me that I should go play with the other kids until it was time for class to start. The other kids were on the other side of the room, playing with toys and talking and laughing.

When I looked over there, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I tugged on Fred’s arm. He was still hiding behind me. “Fred!” I said. “Fred, look over there!”

Slowly he came out from behind me and looked over at where the other kids were playing. All of a sudden, he stood up straight and smiled at me. He grabbed my hand and said, “Let’s go play!”

We kissed Mom good-bye and started kindergarten. Fred and I walked over to where the other kids were playing. We knew that everything would be okay.

Are you wondering how we knew that? It’s because standing there with all those other kids in my class were a bunch of big scary monsters. They were all tall, with sharp teeth and claws. They were all different colors. Fred and I felt right at home, because everyone else in my new kindergarten class had a big, scary, furry Fred of their own!