Curtis's over-active-imagination allowed him to hear scratches and growls. The scratches might have been squirrels on the roof, the growls mere groans of the settling house. But to Curtis, it was the scratch of a bee the size of Curtis himself, its stinger dragging on the floor as it approached his bed. The bee smiled wide and vicious.
"Hush, Curtis." I whispered to him, cuddling him in his small bed. He whimpered about the bee, the moans of monsters hiding in the shadows of his room. I stroked his hair away from his sweaty face. "Sometimes our dreams seem real, they try to follow you from the dream world into the waking world. It takes just a dash of courage to banish the monsters." I got up to demonstrate, Curtis clutched his blanket up to his eyes, peeking out to watch me, "Walk up to the odd shapes to prove there's nothing there." I approached where he said the bee sat, "Then turn on the lights." I go to the door and flip the switch. The room was basked in a bright yellow light, each crevice and corner lit to reveal nothing but toys and books.
"There's nothing in the dark except the inability to see what you know is truly there." I explained, "Everything scary will disappear in the light of the truth."
Curtis jumped from bed and ran to hug me. This was a turning point.
© Ash Huntley
No comments:
Post a Comment