It’s gone now, the world, or at least the world he’s always known. A subtle slip of the tongue, one mispronounced syllable, and the universe collapsed. So many lives, squeezed out of existence. Friends. Family. Cities. Nations. Gone.
He tries to undo the damage, to bring them all back. But every word moves the universe one step closer to ruin. At last he stops, too devastated and out of breath to continue. He stands alone in the dark, the world hazy and insubstantial.
He calls the words back, recants the damage wrought by his careless tongue. But once uttered they will not return. The universe will not allow them.
He surveys the empty void. He does not speak again.
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Mom tells me not to be afraid of the dark. But I know better.
“There’s nothing that can hurt you,” she says with a smile before kissing me on the forehead and closing the door behind her. That’s when I pull the covers over my head like a burial cloth and lie awake with my eyes open until I see the light again.
Once, I took her at her word and slept with the covers off. I trusted her then, was sure that if she said something it must be true. I’d begun to drift, to straddle the world of dreams in freedom and peace.
That was when I heard a voice.
“Christian,” it said, sounding like the rustling of dry leaves.
My eyes popped open.
“Christian, come to me. We’ll have fun together, you and I.”
I threw the blanket over myself like a ward, praying it would be enough to protect me.
“Christian,” it said again, a low susurrus whisper. “I’m here in the dark, waiting for you. Won’t you come? You’ll never have to sleep again. We can play, you and I. We’ll have so much fun.”
That was when I learned the truth, that there are things in the dark that can hurt you, that mothers and fathers don’t always know everything.
I didn’t sleep that night, and I don’t know if I’ll ever sleep again.
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