Once, there was a little girl who dreamed. She imagined herself rich, and important, and special.
She went to bed each night and dreamed.
She did not dream of wealth or happiness though. Instead she dreamed bad things. Scary things. And things that eventually kept her from dreaming at all.
She dreamed of monsters, and drowning, and bow and arrow fights which she lost. Her dreams became so violent and frightening that she would awake screaming and soaked in sweat. So to avoid the monsters, she started sleeping less and less, but that was ok. She was a good girl, and didn’t want to get in trouble.
She was too young to be moody, but she was. She was too young to be tired but the black circles under her eyes were a dead give away, if anyone was paying attention. But since she didn’t want trouble, she kept quiet.
Her sleepless nights became more and more common, and when she did fall asleep, they were waiting.
One night, a very dark night, she saw light. Against her bedroom wall she saw the light of the moon.
So, very quietly, she pushed her small bed against the window and saw the light. She looked straight up at the moon. She imagined the man that must be there and she chatted with him. She asked all sorts of questions, and talked and talked until finally, she dozed off.
While sleeping she dreamed of park benches, and an old man who listened to her. She felt safe and warm. She chatted on and on about things to this Man and never once did the monsters come in when He was there.
This went on for years and years, but she never told anyone. And soon the little girl was not so little.
Eventually she dreamed of Him less and less. Until one day He was no more.
The little girl grew into a woman and then, without much notice, or preparation she grew into a middle aged woman.
And then, one night, the woman couldn’t sleep. Nightmares had taken over again. She was more tired than she ever thought she could be, and older than she ever thought possible.
She didn’t wish herself harm, but wondered if she just disappeared would it matter? If she crawled under the sheets and stayed there forever would anyone notice?
She snuggled down, pulled up the sheets and waited. And just then she peeked out to see if she could see the moon. She pushed her big bed up against the window, which didn’t quite go, but she did it anyway. Her big eyes searched the sky for any sign of moonlight.
She looked up at the darkness but saw nothing. No Man, no moon. She stayed up and searched the dark skies for any reason, but found nothing. She waited for answers to her most personal questions, but heard only silence. Her worst nightmare was once again real. She was alone. Eventually, too exhausted for anything, she slept.
That night she saw the
The Man smiled a gentle smile and softly explained that he had been there all along. It was, after all, when he was full she could see his face, but on the nights when only a sliver appeared in the sky, well those were the nights that he slipped away, mostly, to be on the bench with her and listen and talk.
This night, the sky was dark though. Darker than she had ever seen. It was then that he explained that on this darkest night that no moon appeared in the sky. It couldn’t he said, not even a sliver. He was there with her completely, in her heart and in her dreams. And they talked and she felt safe, and warm again.
The woman sighed and breathed and understood, finally.
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