Her Name

year four

The girl gently places a hand on her mother's stomach in awe. "He's in there?"

Her mother nods, a smile on her face. "Yes. Now, remember, your younger brother is going to need your help. You're going to have to take care of him."

The girl nods solemnly, before squealing when she feels a small bump against her hand. "What was that?"

"He's kicking," her mother explains.

If it was possible, the girl found herself falling more in love with this unborn boy. She couldn't believe that she's finally getting the companion she had always wanted, even if it wasn't a girl, which she had always wished for.

The child hears footsteps and her eyes light up when she recognizes who it is. "Daddy!"

She hears her father's familiar warm laughter fill the air. "Hey, baby girl. How has my favorite daughter been doing?"

"I'm your only daughter," she says, giggling.

He smiles and picks her up, swinging her into the air. "Did your Mommy already tell you about your little brother?" He looks over at his wife with adoration and when he leans over to kiss her, the girl looks away in disgust.

"Yeah," she mutters. "Don't do that."

Her father only laughs. "One day, you'll be in love and I'll be the one telling you not to do it."

The girl grimaces. "Ew. No. That will never ever ever ever evereverevereverever happen. Never."

"We'll see." He looks down at her with affection. "Alright. Time to go to bed."

"But I don't want to," she whines.

Her mother laughs. "Come on, Princess. Tomorrow's waiting for you."

"I don't want to see Tomorrow. Why don't we ever stay awake for Night? He never gets any appreciation, but Day does."

Her parents look down at her before chuckling. "Because Day gives us light."

"But the dark isn't any worse than the light. I think it's beautiful in its own way," the girl says quietly. "Why are people scared of the dark?"

Her father gives his wife a helpless look. "Because people are scared of what they cannot see."

"I think I'm more scared of what I can see." The girl has a solemn look that was almost never seen upon her face. "Like love and blood. Sight is what drives our imagination wild. We see things and that scares us."

The two adults look at their daughter in wonder. "When did you get so wise?" her mother asks, tousling the child's hair. "What does love look like?"

"Like you and Daddy." She grins, revealing the gap where she was missing a tooth. "Or my friends."

Affection radiates off of her parents, and they both lean down to plant a kiss on her forehead. Her father places her onto the bed. "Even still, you must go to sleep. You have school tomorrow."

"I can stay up," she says stubbornly.

Her mother shrugs, too tired to argue. "Then stay up in your bed, Princess."

The girl nods, a confident smile on her face. "Good night, Mommy. Good night, Daddy."

"Night, sweetheart," they both say together.

She watches her parents walk out of the room, leaving her in the dark. A wave of sleepiness washes over her, but she refuses to let her heavy eyelids shut.

Instead, she reaches over and grabs a thick book. "Let's read together," the girl says to the darkness. She turns on a small flashlight that revealed nothing but one page of text. "Once upon a time..."

All through the night, the darkness listens to her. She continues on, even when her voice grows hoarse, and she gets up several times to get a glass of water.

When the sun finally rose, her parents find her with her flashlight in her hand and her soft whispers filling the silence. She glances up when she hears them, a smile on her face.

"I think the dark likes me," she says at last.

Her mother lets out a sigh. "I think it likes you too."