Afraid of the Dark

It appears there is interest in broadening out Literary Corner just a bit. Rather than just having people’s thoughts about literature in general (which I still want to do, and I invite anyone to submit an article), I think it is also nice to include actual writings; short stories, poems, haikus, and things like that. The most recent submission, Snow Globe, submitted by Frances Tallarico, was the first of these writings. Today I have a very intriguing children’s story written by my son-in-law Arthur Reynolds. He and his wife Megan (my daughter) have done some children’s writing before, and now with their own daughter getting close to the reading age, Arthur is beginning to pursue his interest with a new level of energy.

The following, Afraid of the Dark, is a clever story even adults will find interesting.

Afraid of the Dark

by Arthur Reynolds

The streetlights lined the lane like a trail of breadcrumbs leading Daniel home. The warm saucers of light were safe from the moonless night around them. Daniel leapt from light to light to avoid the things hiding in the darkness. If only he’d left his friend’s house an hour sooner perhaps he could have beaten the sun home.

Daniel had always been afraid of the dark. His parents had said that “Nine years old is too old for a night light”, but Daniel knew better. You couldn’t know what was out there waiting for you to step into its reach. It was much safer to have a light to depend on. 

He could feel his heart skip a beat each time he passed through the darkness between the streetlights. This was hardly the worst of it though, there was only one lamp post on the street where he lived and it was on the wrong side of the road. Once he got to the end of the lane he’d have to sprint down his street with no lights to guide him.

With only two lamp posts to go, he landed in the circle of light and looked back to see how far he’d come. All of the streetlights behind him had gone out. The hair on the back of his neck stood straight up. Something has been gobbling up the light behind him as he ran. He turned to run home but the lights ahead of him had been eaten as well. He stood in the last remaining light on the block with darkness surrounding him. His body would not move as a bite was taken out of the edge of the light’s perimeter. It made no sense. The light was being eaten as if it were a large custard pie. Bite by bite the light grew smaller until all that remained was the spot beneath him that was being covered by his shadow. 

“Excuse me. Would you mind taking a step to your left please?” said a voice from the darkness. It was high-pitched and friendly. The type of voice you’d expect to hear from a cartoon sheep. Daniel jumped back in surprise.

“Thank you.” The thing said as it gobbled up the last bits of light. With all of the light gone now Daniel’s eyes adjusted to see what was talking to him. It was a small black furry thing the size of a big cat or a small raccoon. Its yellow eyes looked up at Daniel. They shone like little moons. 

“Do you know where I can find more?” the thing asked. Daniel hesitated for a moment. It didn’t seem scary or mean. In fact, its furry face was kind of cute. Two glowing eyes lit up the rest of its face to reveal a drooping snout that fell over its toothless mouth. It was kind of like an anteater mixed with a hairy black pillow. 

“Excuse me, sir. Do you know where I can find more?” it repeated. 

“More light?”

“Yes. I’ve got to reach my quota.” 

Daniel thought this was very strange. Rightfully so. Who had ever heard of a light quota? Daniel had known that his parents paid for electricity because they often complained about the bills when they came. As long as it wasn’t him the thing was after Daniel had no reason to be afraid of it. 

“There is another post around the corner. Just up ahead,” he said. 

“Thank you kindly.” said the thing and it turned and walked off into the night towards Daniel’s street. Caught with curiosity, Daniel followed it. 

The thing sniffed at the ground with its snout as it walked down the street. It appeared to catch a smell that it liked because it began to pick up speed. Daniel found himself hurrying after it. It seemed to be heading straight for the lamp post.

“What does light smell like?” Daniel said thinking out loud. 

“It smells tart and sweet. It tastes good too!” the thing said happily.

Daniel thought of the lemon meringue pies that his father made for holidays and his mouth began with water. He was quite hungry and ought to be getting home. It was after nine now. His parents always went to bed early for work and he would usually be in bed by now also. He was sure his dinner was in the fridge waiting for him. Daniel watched hungrily as the thing ate the light from the lone lamp on his street. 

“More?” the thing asked. 

“Why do you need to eat so much light?”

“We need to bring it back with us. It’s used to power our home.”

“Well, the only other lights that I know of are the lights in my house,” Daniel said.

“Great! Let’s go there!” it said as it hopped down from the curb towards him. Daniel thought that his parents wouldn’t mind the lights being eaten in their home since they always complained about how the lights were always on. 

“What happens to the lights once you eat them?” Daniel asked. 

“The big lights always come back eventually, but smaller lights usually need to be replaced.”

Daniel led the thing to his house and made it wait outside so that he could make sure his parents were asleep before letting it in. It happily ate the light cast out the windows while it waited. Daniel’s father had already gone to bed and his mother was sitting up to wait for him. 

“You’re home late”, she said. 

“Yeah, we got caught up playing games. I’m sorry.”

“I’m just glad you made it home okay. I was expecting a call once it got dark out. It’s darker than usual tonight.” She warmed up his dinner and once he’d eaten, she brought him to bed. It was not unusual for Daniel to sit up a bit in his room, so his mother thought nothing of it when he wanted to keep his light on to read.

Once he was certain that his parents were both asleep he crept downstairs and let the thing in. 

“Thank goodness!” It said, “I was starting to think you’d leave me out here”. Daniel led the thing around the house from room to room as it gobbled up the lights. The house grew dark as they made their way upstairs to Daniel’s room.

“I need just a little more.” the thing said as it finished eating the light from his lamp and ceiling fan. Daniel had been afraid of that. The only light left was his night light. 

“I need the night light, I’m sorry. I’m just too afraid of the dark.” Daniel said. The thought of going without his nightlight made him scared for the first time since he met the little fuzzy thing. 

“How can you be afraid of the dark?!” the thing said surprised. “We’ve been in the dark all night.” Daniel realized that his new fuzzy friend was right. They had been walking around without light this whole time, and nothing bad had happened. If a fuzzy little thing could be happy in the darkness, then maybe he could too. 

“Okay,” Daniel said. “You can take it.”

“Thank you! Thank you!” It quickly gobbled up the glow from the nightlight and Daniel’s room fell dark. All he could see was the eyes of his friend glowing the brightest they’d glowed all night. It looked happy and full. 

“Could you open the window, please? I must be on my way.” The thing asked. Daniel followed it to the window and opened it up. The thing hopped into the air and didn’t come down. It floated out the window like a balloon. 

“Goodbye.” The thing said. “Thank you for all of your help!”

Daniel waved goodbye to the thing as he watched it float up into the night sky. Its eyes glowing like a pair of fireflies dancing through the night. Daniel saw more and more lights float up to join it. There were hundreds of glowing little things in the sky. They floated upward and came closer together until they made a large circle among the stars. The moon shone brightly, lighting up Daniel’s street and casting light into his room. Daniel was no longer afraid of the dark.