"I used to believe in monsters," Alex said. She pushed her glasses up on her nose. Her nose twitched. With her pink face and round cheeks, she looked like a tall, blonde bunny rabbit.
"When I was little, I thought that a monster lived in my sock drawer," Alex told me. "You won't believe this, Zackie. But I never opened that drawer. I used to wear my sneakers without socks. Sometimes I tried to go barefoot to kindergarten. I was too seared to open that drawer. I knew the sock monster would bite my hand off!"
She laughed. Alex has the strangest laugh. It sounds more like a whistle than a laugh. "Wheeeeeeh! Wheeeeeh!"
She shook her head, and her blonde ponytail shook with her. "Now that I'm twelve, I'm a lot smarter," she said. "Now I know that there is no such thing as monsters."
That's what Alex said to me two seconds before we were attacked by the monster.