It all started on Charlie’s 13th birthday.

Her mother told her, “thirteen is the age where a girl starts to become a woman.”

Her best friend Claudia told her, “being a teenager is great; you’ll get to experience a whole new life!”

Her brother George told her, “your teenage years are your hardest years.”

In a way, they were all right.

One moment, Charlie was blowing out the blue candles on her chocolate cake, grinning to Claudia’s tone-deaf singing. The next moment, she spotted a small brown box under all her other gifts. No wrapping, no ribbon, no identification of the giver.

Frowning, her mother questioned, “where did this come from?”

“I bet George got it,” Charlie teased. “He never makes his gifts look nice.”

Rolling his eyes, George said, “it’s not from me.”

Regardless, Charlie opened the gift. Inside was a pair of black-rimmed glasses. They had an odd shimmer on the lenses. Frowning, Charlie asked, “do I need glasses?”

“They must be blue light glasses,” her mother reasoned. “They look strange.”

The party continued, with cake served to the guests, and games played and won, mainly by Claudia. However, Charlie felt anxious for the party to end, so that she could put on the glasses.

When the guests left and Charlie’s mom began to clean the kitchen, Charlie put on the glasses. After a few moments, nothing seemed to change. Frowning, she tapped them, and the world around her darkened as though the glasses had changed into shades. Startling, Charlie gazed around, and gaped at what she saw.

On the table sat a tiny toy. It was old and stained, and it appeared to be- moving. Stiffly coming around the table, she whispered, “hello?”

The toy whipped its head around. Stifling a scream, Charlie stumbled into the kitchen to talk to her mother, but her mother was gone. Dangling from the light fixture was a puppet with tear stains and an uncanny grin. It was looking straight at her.

“MOM?” Charlie screamed, and ran from the room. Shadows chased her, and her breathing came in quick gasps when she saw eyes in the darkness. A silent scream tore at her throat, and she pressed against the wall, sobbing and covering her head pathetically-

Hands grabbed her, and she shrieked. The glasses were torn off her face, and through her tears she saw her mother, eyes wide and mouth moving. Too scared to register her words, she threw her arms around her, crying.

The next day, her brother and mom tried on the glasses. They remarked that it made things darker, like sunglasses, but they didn’t see any creatures, and their loved ones certainly were not removed from view.

The glasses were thrown away, but deep down, she knew that the creatures had been… real.