Darkness engulfed the child as the candle momentarily struggled to stay lit and then finally died out in a swift puff of smoke. The dancing warm light that was captured in his wide glassy eyes was diminished. He sat in his bed shaking for a moment and then plunged under the covers to seek shelter.
While the candle was alight, it kept the monstrous children that adorned the walls from creeping past the dark edges of the warm flickering. The children were trying to board the train, over and over in the mural as it crossed one wall and intersected another. A different child smiled creepily from a black frame that was mounted high above. She rocked back and forth slightly as she continued smiling in her blue dress, like some ghostly figure forced to maintain the same composure until her painting finally crumbled and turned to dust.
In another frame sat a clown in a chair. The clown looked friendly but also sad, as if the features of his face held many secrets. Or perhaps he was sad that the children were constantly missing their train. The frightened child under the covers didn't fear the clown, perhaps the clown would actually come to his rescue. No, it was the children. There was something wrong with the children. The little boy did not want to be friends with them.
The boy was considering his options. Should he attempt to go awake his parents and tell them about the moving people and their plight against him, or should he wait to just fall asleep and hope that they don’t meet him in his dreams. If the boy were to run to his parent’s room, there was always the chance that the children would stop him before he made it out of the room. Also his mother and father’s room may be locked. No, he had to wait it out.
As the boy was contemplating these options, the door opened suddenly and the room was flooded with a light that was brighter than the candle ever was. The light splayed across the dark blue and red walls of the room and the people in the paintings came to a frightening halt.
A silhouette entered the room. The little boy peered through a slit in the covers and noticed that it was his mom and that she was holding two cups of water as she neared him. A small figure in the bed across from him stirred under the blankets as she woke up, disturbed from the sudden brightness.
“I forgot to give you your “bity” water before bed”, the calm voice of the mother said.
She set the cups down on the nightstand that stood between the beds under the window and noticed that the boy was frightened as he peered from under his covers with wide eyes.
“Are you okay”, she asked.
“I’m scared,” the boy replied.
The boy explained, from under the covers, why he was afraid and the little girl in the bed across from him nodded fervently as he spoke. The mother sat down on the boy’s bed and motioned for his sister to join them.
“Let’s pray”, she said.
Afterwards, without the light of the candle, the boy was able to sleep once again.
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