It was 8:30 p.m.

Everyone was settling down for bed and little Yusairah was getting changed, “Daddy, can you check if the Toy Monster is here?” I looked at her seriously and wondered whether he was going to trouble another 4-year old tonight, or not. Tameem, to the right of me, made a gruff voice “Yes and I want your hair dryer!” The misplaced little electronic item rested on the white tiles, plugged into a euro outlet, ready to remove any water problems from a certain 4-year old’s water mishaps in the bathroom.

Yusairah panicked. I knew something had to be done. Springing into action, I looked at her gravely.

“Where’s Husky?”

Her eyes darted around, looking for the killer of Toy Monsters (whose specialty is stealing toys not put away before bed time). She quickly found him and gave it to me, and I held it with all four of Husky’s legs in one hand facing away from me, ready to shoot, should his target come into sight. I snuck to the door, shifting my weight from one leg to the other, avoiding making any noise, listening for any wayward footsteps which may give away his location. I shout, “Toy Monster, are you outside? I have a gun and I’ll shoot you with it.”

A gruff voice squealed, “Is it Husky?!”

I paused, letting the tension build, letting this beast, this thief of loved toys and bane of 4-year olds stay in suspense of what lay in store for him.

“Yes,” I finally confirm in a low voice, after several moments, “he’s here and you better hope he’s in a good mood.” Yusairah’s little face lit up into a smile and she did a little dance as the Toy Monster gave up and said to her, in perhaps a slightly cowardly voice, “I’ll be here tomorrow for your hair dryer, if you don’t put it away! There are other babas who made a mess. I’ll be back. It’s my hair dryer!”

I nod at Yusairah as she happily carried on dressing, putting her worn clothes into her bag. We heard nothing more from the Toy Monster thereafter.

It would suffice to say that it was put away rather neatly in Yusairah’s drawer (filled with an empty Nutella Jar, bubbles, along with some odds and ends) and in record time.

The rest of my place looked pretty tidy too after my little display of dominance against this ever-looming threat. Husky also vigilantly continued guarding Yusairah on the bed in the way a stuffed animal could only do for the rest of the night.