Safe

Age 5. You awake from a horrible nightmare trying to scream, but no sound is coming out. Your vocal chords are failing you when you desperately need them. You need Mom and Dad RIGHT NOW. Oh, but your bedroom is big and scary and the hallway outside is long and dark, and in the darkness this house seems suddenly unfamiliar. The distance between where you lie now, paralyzed with fear, and where you want so desperately to be seems endless. Who knows what remnants of your dream will come to life between here and there, pulling you into shadowy corners? But the thought of loving arms and hushed words of comfort overpower the fear. Your decision is made in a split second. Ignoring the visions of hands reaching out from under your bed to grab at your feet and yellow eyes leering at you from behind half-open doors, you streak down the hall and land safely in your parents’ arms. Someday you’ll learn, child, that those phantoms only have power over you when you let them and that the journey to reach the safety of that waiting, welcoming, comforting love, terrifying though it may seem, is always better than staying in a room alone with your fear.