Listen to “Emily and the Sock Monster” on Spreaker.
Emily and the Sock Monster
Emily had a big problem. Every morning, one of her socks would be missing.
Not both. Just one.
On Monday, her fuzzy pink sock disappeared. On Tuesday, her rainbow-striped sock vanished. By Wednesday, she only had one pair of mismatched socks left—a red one with stars and a blue one with bananas.
Her mom said, “Maybe you dropped them behind the dryer.”
Her dad said, “You probably forgot where you put them.”
Even her little brother Daniel just giggled and said, “Maybe the Sock Monster took them!”
That made Emily stop.
“What if… he did?” she whispered.
That night, Emily got out her detective notebook, a flashlight, and her magnifying glass. She tiptoed to her room and whispered to her last two socks, “Stay where you are. I have a plan.”
Operation Sock Watch
Emily didn’t go to sleep right away. She sat up in bed with her flashlight and watched the laundry basket.
Nothing.
She watched the closet.
Still nothing.
She watched the sock drawer.
Just quiet…
Then—rustle!
Something small darted from under her bed!
Emily held her breath. She watched as a tiny shape—about the size of a kitten—tiptoed across the room. It had stubby legs, big ears, and was wearing a… sock?
Her missing pink sock was on its head like a hat!
Emily’s eyes went wide.
“It’s real,” she gasped.
The little creature opened her sock drawer carefully, pulled out the starry red sock—and stuffed it into a sack made entirely of socks. It started to tiptoe away.
“No you don’t!” Emily whispered.
She jumped out of bed—but the little creature was too fast. It zipped under the bed and vanished.
Building the Trap
The next day, Emily was ready.
She took her last banana sock and placed it in the middle of her room like bait. Around it, she built a circle of pillows with yarn stretched across like a tripwire. In the corner, she placed a small box propped up with a pencil. The moment the tripwire was pulled, the pencil would fall—and trap the monster.
“I call it… the Giggler Snare,” she grinned.
Then she waited. And waited.
At midnight—flump!—the box fell!
Emily turned on her flashlight and ran over. Inside the box, blinking up at her with big round eyes, was the Sock Monster.
It wasn’t scary at all. It looked like a tiny teddy bear with wild, frizzy hair and socks for clothes. It wore a polka-dot sock like a cape and had a button on its chest like a badge.
“Hi,” it squeaked. “I’m Poofle.”
“You are real!” Emily said. “Why are you stealing my socks?”
Poofle’s lip wobbled. “I-I wasn’t stealing. I was borrowing. I needed them to build my home. My cave got cold… and socks are cozy!”
Emily tilted her head. “Your home?”
Poofle nodded. “Under your bed! Want to see?”
The Sock-Fort Kingdom
Carefully, Emily lifted her bed skirt. Inside was a tiny sock cave like nothing she had ever seen.
Tunnels made from tube socks. Walls of folded woolly pairs. A soft mattress made of puffy slipper socks. And hanging from the ceiling like decorations were little baby socks on strings.
“Oh. My. Goodness,” Emily said.
“I tried to pick ones that weren’t being used,” Poofle said. “But I needed enough to stay warm. My cousins are visiting next week.”
Emily smiled. “Well, you could ask before borrowing. People think I’m just messy!”
Poofle’s cheeks turned pink. “I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”
“I have an idea,” said Emily.
The Sock Agreement
The next day, Emily brought Poofle a basket full of unmatched socks from the laundry room. “These are all the lonely socks that lost their pairs. You can use these.”
Poofle squealed with joy. “Thank you, thank you!”
“And,” Emily added, “I’ll let you keep borrowing one fun sock each week—as long as you return it on Sundays and make a little note in my notebook so I know where it is.”
“Deal!” Poofle said, shaking her pinky with his fuzzy paw.
That night, Poofle wrote in the notebook:
Sock Borrowed: Green with ducks
Reason: Pillow for my Aunt Sniffle
Return Date: Sunday
Smells like: Lemons
Emily giggled. It was the first time she’d ever laughed about losing socks.
The Secret Keeper
From that day on, Emily and Poofle became great friends. Sometimes she’d leave him tiny marshmallows, and he’d leave her glittery buttons or miniature drawings made from crayon shavings.
No one else ever saw the Sock Monster. Not Mom, not Dad, and definitely not Daniel.
But Emily knew.
Every week, she’d open her sock drawer, find one fun sock missing, check her notebook, and smile.
Some secrets are just too fuzzy and magical to share.
The End!
Follow-up Questions:
- Why did no one believe Emily when she said a monster was taking her socks?
- What was the most surprising part of Poofle’s sock fort for you?
- If you had a Sock Monster living under your bed, what kind of socks would you give it and why?
It is a good story and I finally got my sister to stop crying 🙋