With every passing minute, 10-year-old Elijah stares at the clock, knowing that bedtime is right around the corner. Ever since a thunderstorm knocked out the power a few nights ago, his fear of the dark has been keeping him up at night. Reluctantly, he turns on a large reading lamp next to his closet. For the past few nights, he has been leaving it on to help with his fear of the dark. There are more lamps scattered throughout the room, but he favors this one because it’s the brightest. Grabbing his favorite stuffed animal, Max, he checks under the bed with a keen eye for anything suspicious. Satisfied, he places the stuffed German Shepherd on his bed while fixing the covers around him. Walking out of his room, he glances at the clock and sighs, knowing it’s bedtime. He turns off the bedroom light, leaving only the warm glow of his lamp.
“Don’t forget to brush your teeth,” Elijah’s father says while walking by his room. “I’ve got a surprise for you when you’re finished.”
Hesitantly, he marches into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Afterwards, he washes his hands and runs them through his densely coiled hair. He peers out of the bathroom and down the hallway towards his room. He hurries down the hallway and into his room, jumping straight onto the comfort of his bed. His tiny hands wrap the covers around himself, ensuring his feet are safely covered and not dangling out of bed.
“Easy now!” his father says with a warm smile while sitting on the edge of the bed.
“You said you’ve got a surprise for me?”
“I do,” the boy’s father remarks as he pulls out a small nightlight in the shape of a colorful cartoon bug.
“It’s a nightlight to help you sleep. When I was your age, I used to sleep with one just like this. I’m going to plug it in over here by the door so that it will light up your whole room. This way, you won’t have so many lamps on at bedtime,” Elijah’s father says while slowly making his way over to his closet to turn off the lamp.
“Are you sure that’s going to help?” Elijah asks while quickly grabbing the beetle-shaped nightlight from his father’s hands. Inspecting it from all sides, his hands fidget with the multi-colored body of the beetle. The cartoon face of the beetle stares back at him with a whimsical gaze, slowly putting to rest his anxiety. He hands the nightlight back to his dad and sinks into the safety of his covers.
“Goodnight, son,” his father says with a warm smile as he plants a soft kiss on his son’s forehead. He plugs in the nightlight by the door and reassures him that there is nothing to worry about. He turns off all of the lights and starts to shut the door, but not before saying, “Sleep tight now, don’t let the bedbugs bite.”
As the bedroom door swings shut, Elijah fixes his gaze on the soft glow emanating from the nightlight. The small boy is captivated and slightly unnerved by the illuminating, tiny creature-shaped lamp. In the darkness, the silhouette of the colorful beetle seems to stretch outward throughout the room. His imagination begins to run wild, envisioning the shadowy figure of the creature crawling across the walls. The longer he stares at the shadows, the more they start to creep him out. He contemplates racing over to the wall to unplug the nightlight, but his fear of the dark outweighs his desire to follow through.
Elijah tries to ignore his imagination and decides to make an effort at trying to go to sleep with his new nightlight. He closes his eyes and clears his mind, but the idea of bedbugs starts to creep into his head. A small shiver races down his spine at the very thought of the tiny creatures crawling around near him in the dark. He quickly shakes the feeling away and throws his covers over his head. Above his bed, the constant whirl of the ceiling fan, combined with the soft hum of the nightlight, slowly begins to ease the boy into slumber. Amidst the room’s ambience, it doesn’t take long before he drifts away to sleep, safety secured within the comforts of his blankets and favorite stuffed animal, Max.
A few hours pass, and Elijah begins to toss and turn in bed. His eyes gradually begin to open as he looks around and notices the neon glow of his alarm clock ticking past midnight. He lies in his bed, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes. He wasn’t sure what caused him to stir from his sleep, but he figured it was probably a nightmare caused by his overactive imagination. The harder he tries to remember what his nightmare was about, the more the memory blurs and slowly fades into obscurity. He tries to close his eyes again but suddenly hears a strange scratching sound from across the room.
Elijah quickly sits up, letting his rich chestnut eyes adjust to the darkness of the room. He scans the room attentively, finally coming to a halt on the glowing nightlight. A few minutes go by, and the scratching sound once again rings out, breaking the still silence of the room. The strange noise seems to be emanating from behind the small nightlight. He reaches over to the nightstand and begins to fumble around in the drawers. Pulling out a small flashlight, he swiftly turns it on while pointing it towards the darkness. Nothing, it doesn’t light up. The scratching sound rings out again, gradually inching its way through the darkness.
Wasting no time, he hastily taps the flashlight with the side of his palm. Instantly, a bright beacon of light springs up, illuminating the eerie room. He shines the light on the walls, anticipating finding a monster of epic proportions crawling toward him. Seeing nothing there, he shines the light around the room while holding his breath, hoping not to find anything. His flashlight begins to flicker, and a feeling of dread tingles through his small body. He taps the flashlight a few more times, but it only flickers and abruptly dies out.
Elijah continues to tinker with the flashlight until the frightening sound of scratching on the walls echoes out again. He stops everything and focuses all of his attention toward the tiny nightlight and the eerie silhouette it casts. His eyes strain to pierce the darkness, slowly watching the silhouette of the tiny creature glide across the walls of his room. The longer that he stares at the shadow, the more alive it now seems to become. With every passing moment, the young boy becomes captivated by the spectacle before him.
The silhouette seems to take on a life of its own as it stretches across the room, reaching out for the boy. Its long and grotesque pincers crawl ever closer along the walls, making their way to the safety of his bed. Like something spawned out of a nightmare, Elijah watches as the shadow grows bigger the closer it draws to him. Wide-eyed with fear, the small boy snatches his favorite stuffed animal, Max, and quickly ducks under the covers. With a firm grip on Max, he sits up with his knees to his chest, enveloped in the safety of his covers. Just as his flashlight starts to flicker on again, he feels the weight of something suddenly jump on his bed.
Panic starts to set in as Elijah can feel whatever is on the bed slowly moving closer to him. While under the covers, he shines his flashlight towards the edge of the bed. As the bedsprings creak, he can gradually see something pressing down on the covers as it makes its way up the bed. His mind starts racing as he scoots himself further away from the creature. His back is now pressed against the wall with nowhere to go. He can feel the weight of the large creature on his bed inching its way closer. With his heart pounding out of his chest, he quickly tosses his covers over the creature’s head and rolls out of bed. He comes crashing down on the carpeted floor and immediately barrels under the bed, flashlight gripped tightly in his small hands.
Lying flat on his stomach under his bed, Elijah can feel the weight of the creature thrashing about above him. Lying motionless, his eyes hyperactively look around, waiting to see the creature spring out and drag him out by his feet. Terrified, the small boy starts to fix his stare at the light switch at the end of his room. If he can just reach the light switch, maybe he can make this nightmare go away. He shines his flashlight around the room but doesn’t see anything. Suddenly, the severed head of Max flies through the air, sending stuffing everywhere, cascading across the room like sprinkling rain. The stuffed head lands with a soft bounce on the floor just a couple of feet from where he is lying prone.
Startled at the sight, Elijah swiftly covers his mouth to keep from crying out. He looks over just in time to see the creature’s black, elongated barbed legs emerge from the dark. The monstrous legs come crashing down on the floor, ready to attack. Panic-stricken, Elijah watches as the creature scurries around the bed, trying to home in on its prey. He immediately turns off the flashlight and rolls it away from himself, hoping to distract the creature with it. With bated breath, he waits, his teary eyes fixated on the creature. All the while, it stalks around like an apex predator toying with its meal.
The flashlight aimlessly rolls away, coming to a halt upon hitting the side of a dresser drawer. The creature scampers over to the noise and instantly crushes the small light with its powerful mandibles. A tiny gasp of fear accidentally escapes the boy’s mouth, breaking the silence of the room. The creature whips its head around, making eye contact with the child. It snarls and begins to charge towards the boy. Elijah screams out in terror as the nightmarish beast tries to force its body under the bed. Taken aback, the terrified boy wastes no time and scrambles out of his hiding spot beneath the bed. He bolts upright and makes a mad dash towards the front door where the light switch is located, alongside the ill-fated nightlight.
As the boy’s gawky legs race towards the front door, he is unexpectedly tripped as the creature lashes out with its sharp pincer. Elijah slams onto the floor as his legs are swept from under him by the menacing creature. He turns around only to see the creature violently lashing out as it inches closer. He bellows out a horrifying scream and begins to fiercely kick and stomp at the head of the creature. The black abomination snarls back, allowing the boy just enough time to scramble back to his feet. Its razor-sharp mandibles strike out, tearing through the lower half of his pajama bottoms and piercing the boy’s tender flesh.
The pain is immediate, shooting all through his tiny frame, causing him to stumble. Elijah quickly catches his balance as the sharp sensation of his wound sends a jolting pain up his leg. He wants nothing more than to stop and cry, but he knows the creature is right behind him, closing in with every breath. His eyes, wild with fright, can see the light switch now in sight only a few feet away. Without hesitation, he springs forward with arms stretched out as if he were reaching for a distant shining star in the night sky. The creature swipes its front legs out, just barely missing Elijah’s leg by a few inches. In that instant, the small boy’s fingertips narrowly manage to flip the light switch.
An ocean of light floods through the room like a cascade of sunshine. His bedroom instantly illuminates with fluorescent light, casting away foreboding shadows and any creatures that dwell within. Elijah falls to the floor with a sigh of relief, knowing that the terrible creature had been vanquished. Wasting no time, he wipes the tears from his eyes and yanks out the nightlight with all his might. Swinging it halfway across the room, it bounces off the wall and lands near his bed. The colorful eyes of the tiny cartoon creature dimmed and faded away, putting an end to Elijah’s nightmare. A few minutes pass, and the small boy finally decides to get up and walk over to the nightlight.
A shooting pain courses through his small leg as he looks down and sees a large, vertical slash on his leg. The slash ripped through the bottom of his pajamas, causing them to sway like a flag in the breeze with every step taken. As he walks past his bed, he notices a small speck of blood on a sharp corner by his bed. He quickly snatches up the small, colorful nightlight and proceeds to take it to his parents. Marching down the hallway towards his parents’ bedroom, his eyes beam with laser focus. He knocks on their door and waits for a few seconds. His father opens the door, startled to see his son standing there quietly. Without saying a word, Elijah slides past his father and plugs in the nightlight by the door.
With a puzzled look on his face, his father asks, “Is everything okay?”
The question is met with a bright smile from Elijah, a smile fueled by a sense of triumph and relief. The shadows that had haunted him and preyed on his imagination and fear were no longer there. Unsure if the creature was indeed real or just conjured from his fears, the brave boy stands tall and fierce. He knows that he has discovered a sense of newfound courage and strength that will help him confront his fears head-on. With a triumphant look, Elijah nods his head with confidence and begins to walk back to his bedroom.
Before closing his parents’ door, he smiles again and says, “Night, Dad. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”
Credit: Michael Castillo
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