Recovery (Early Counterattacks)

The Sundering had an effect quite different from whatever the Rocking Chair Entity and the Beast desired. The Boy refused to give in. He told his parents all about the dreams, and made it clear that he would not allow The Rocking Chair to remain in his room. As per his desires, it was moved down to the First Floor. He also extracted a promise that, if something happened again, they would chop it up and burn it. He felt better. And all of this would grant The Boy far greater mobility in future situations.

The Boy addressed the Stuffed Animal Armed Volunteers. The exact wording of the Stuffed Animal Armed Volunteer Address is lost to time, but it went something like this: He understood that they were merely stuffed animals who had been stationed under his command. He understood that they had not been properly armed and armored for this situation. He even understood that they were mostly immobile and filled with stuffing. But! But! HE ALSO knew that deep within their fluffy, fuzzy, and smooth exteriors, past all the stuffing and threadwork, were the hearts of champions! These were the stuffed animals that would go above and beyond the call of duty. Each was in the likeness of a hero from Disney movies, Saturday Morning Cartoons, or plain damned comforting stuffed animal stock! Were they really going to give up without a fight? Let this battle be the one that defines them for ages to come! Let this be the war that the Stuffed Animal Armed Volunteers show their mettle, and crush the nightmarish enemy of ages past!

He wasn't exactly George S. Patton.

The Boy repositioned his assets. First of all, he had not even considered the possibility that anything could reach the height of the Bunk Bed, let alone attack him directly. He remedies this, positioning Volunteers on the Bottom Bunk to add a second layer of defense.

The battle continued. Not long after the Sundering, the Boy had a nightmare involving himself on a Yoshi (apologies to Nintendo, but dreams tend to ignore copyright law) riding out of his room to challenge The Rocking Chair which was trying to climb up the stairs. After an extended conflict, The Boy once again found himself being devoured.

He awoke with a start. What would his Saturday Morning Cartoon Heroes do in this situation? probably nothing he could do against these entities. He didn't ask his parents to burn the chair yet. He couldn't explain why, but something told him he had an edge now.

Not too long after this, The Babysitter gave The Boy a serious defensive advantage. A momentary aside: The Babysitter is more than just a Babysitter. The Babysitter, in effect, played a large part in the development of both the Boy and The sister. She had watched them both from when The Boy was a year old, until the boy was seven years old. She stays in touch, a close friend of the family. She was and is wise in her ways. She had heard he was having problems with nightmares, and managed to pick him up a Dream Catcher while she was visiting the western part of the United States. In theory, it would prevent nightmares from getting through, but would allow good dreams to pass. By this point, The Boy was starting to wonder if his situation was maybe more than a little unusual. He was however, grateful for the gift. He set it up in the middle of the room immediately.

Two weeks after the Dreamcatcher had been positioned, the Boy had slept peacefully. The night had held no terrors. The defenses were perfect. The Boy considered standing down the Stuffed Animal Armed Volunteers as an organization.

Then he heard it. That telltale creaking, just like on the night of The Sundering.
"MOM!"
No one heard him. The stairs creaked again.
"DAD!"
No one heard him. The stairs creaked again.
He shouted for his parents several more times, but there was no response. Only creaking. The boy watched the doorway, watching it closely. What the hell was out there? He did not understand at all. He watched the doorway for almost the entire night, finally going to sleep.

He brought it up to his parents the next day. They honestly hadn't heard anything. And the boy had not actually seen what was on the stairs.

It was obvious at this point: the war wasn't over.