Fear the Dark

Come out and play with us. We'll have so much fun.

Peering through the crack in the shutters I tried to make out the person behind the voice, but it was too dark for me to see any more than the blurred outlines of the trees waving in the distance.

Please come out Lizzy, we want to play with you.

A sharp gust of wind rattled the windowpane and I dove under the bedcovers, hiding from the cold and the voice calling out to me. Papa said that monsters lurked in the darkness, but the voice sounded so sad and lonely, surely they weren't evil?

We were told never to go outside after dark. All the grown-ups made sure that their homes were locked up tight and their children kept safely inside. None of us really knew why, but we were told at school that bad things happened after the sun set. Peter Larsson said he thought it was all a big lie made up by our parents to stop us from having fun.

Peter Larsson's mama cries all the time now and his father spends most of his time in the local tavern. I saw him once walking home from school, he was in the street yelling and crying about the monsters that stole his son. Papa had gripped my hand tightly and hurried us past, muttering about irresponsible parents deserving their punishment.

We have so many games to play, Lizzy.

The voice sounded so very nice, not like a monster at all. Slowly I crawled out from under the covers and knelt by the window again, wondering if I could open it and just talk to them. My hand slipped to the wooden bar Papa hammered into place each night, one of the nails was loose.

Papa would be so angry when he saw the bar had been moved. I wasn't supposed to touch it once it was in place, only Papa was allowed to remove it once the sun was up. When the sun was up the monsters went away, they didn't like the bright light of day. Sunshine was safe but the dark was dangerous.

We can be friends, don't you want a new friend?

I didn't have lots of friends, there weren't many children in our village. Maybe the voice would like the same games as me or could teach me some new ones. The nail slowly came loose and dropped into my palm, now I could move the bar out of the way and push open the shutters.

Maybe I shouldn't or I could wake Papa and tell him about the lonely voice out there in the darkness. He would want me to be kind. I'm sure he'd be happy to hear I'd made a new friend. I decided that I should talk to the voice and quietly pushed open the shutters.

Come out and play with us. We'll have so much fun.