Night Light

Night Light

She used to be scared of the dark

engulfed in the pitch black, under the sheets she hid

away from the lingering shadows

She was running - faster and faster,

trying to save herself from

the chilling horrors that escaped from dreamland and followed her to the walls of her room

on her own she could never rid

of them

every time, every night, her night light rescued her

like a bashful warrior, she ventured out of bed to face the eerie, foreign silhouettes 

She plugged it in, her night light, and suddenly - she could see 

its small faint glow burning brightly in the darkness of the night

it flooded out all the bad, all the nightmares, all the monsters

and then - she wasn’t running anymore

the night light’s dim radiance soothed her.

She was safe. 

 - She thought - 

more nights pass. many more dreams, a lifetime of nightmares - they keep coming

all of a sudden - She's awake 

but the monsters are still there

everywhere

inescapable. 

She doesn't run away because this time there’s no place to hide

so she faces it - she faces the unfamiliarity, fights the beasts

and then - just then - she finds a little flicker of flashing light

She holds onto it

She takes it with her, wherever she goes. 

She used to be scared of the dark. She still is. 

now - now there is no night light in sight

until she searches for it, 

- a little beam of glow, however faint, however small

always, it’s there - there where the monsters are, the haunting tales, the black, there where there is no light

sometimes tiny, sometimes dull and distant

She just has to find it

in the darkness, she stumbles

Then and Now, the soft, gentle rays of her nightlight

help her find her way

back to reality