Word Count - 399

You had never told him about how much the dark frightened you. You figured that he always sort of knew. After all, you never slept without a light on or the door open. It was one of those things you both knew but never spoke about.

Until the power went out one day.

You were sitting on the couch reading while he was sitting next to you watching the television when the thunderstorm outside had suddenly made the lights go out. You let out a small squeal and immediately grabbed his arm.

“What just happened?” you asked, your heart beating rapidly as you began to become paranoid. He simply looked around and sighed deeply.

“Must have just been a power outage,” he responded, starting to get up from the couch.

At first, you unconsciously didn’t let go because you didn’t want to be alone. But as soon as he shot you a confused look you coughed awkwardly and let go of his arm, allowing him to stand up and walk into the kitchen.

You immediately grabbed your phone and turned on the flashlight, lighting up the room a little. You cursed at the fact that you only had a little battery left.

You called out his name, your voice betraying you and quivering slightly. You heard him rummage around in the kitchen, and when he came back out, you could see he was holding things.

“Here,” he said, handing you a flashlight while setting down a few candles on the coffee table in front of you. He struck a match and lit them, one by one, allowing their light to illuminate the small space between you and him.

“Better?” he asked, smirking at you.

You tried to calm your breathing and focus on the light in order to quell your fear of the dark. He must have noticed because he held out a hand to you and pulled you into him.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were afraid of the dark?” he asked, pulling you into his lap. You curled up in front of the candles and closed your eyes, feeling his warmth wash over you.

“Why would I? It’s silly to be afraid of the dark,” you said, chuckling lightly as you looked up at him. He bent down and gave you a peck on the lips, smiling lightly.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from the dark.”

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#frighten #prose #latenightthoughts #musings

“No.”

Time seemed to freeze as she watched that one single word escape from his lips before he walked off into the sunset. The moment replayed itself over and over in her mind as she allowed herself to crumble to the ground. At first she wasn’t sure if it was reality or just a bad dream, but a simple pinch to the cheek told her the truth.

She wasn’t dreaming

Her fingers dug into the earth as she clenched the ground, holding onto the long tufts of grass as if it were her only lifeline to the world around her. Her breathing was shallow and her head was facing the ground, but she could barely make out the blades of grass through the tears in her eyes. She allowed her mind to wander as her body remained frozen in time.

She had been defeated.

After weeks of dreaming about him and wishing for the moment that he would accept her feelings, she had decided to tell him. The courtyard had looked so beautiful in the setting sun – it was a picture perfect moment. There was no better time in the world to confess.

She had been so wrong.

Her dreams of finding a prince to love her and sweep her off her feet were gone. Reality was nothing like the books she always buried her nose in. In those realities he would have said yes and she would have gladly taken his arm and run off with him.

She had been naïve.

Reality was different. Reality was terrifying and the lingering memory of his rejection was painful. It was an alarm set just a few minutes before the right time, and instead of waking up to find the sun shining, she was waking up to find her world being torn down before her very eyes.

And it was darker than she could have ever imagined.