Lance and the Dark

There once was a boy named Lance, and, more than anything else, Lance was afraid of the Dark. He wasn’t afraid of the dark in the way that most children are afraid of the dark. He wasn’t really afraid of darkness at all. He was afraid of a ferocious, wild animal that he called the Dark.

The wild, black Dark lived deep inside Lance’s closet. At night, when the lights went off, the Dark would creep out under Lance’s closet door. Lance couldn’t see it, but still he knew that it was there. He could feel the Dark’s presence. He could smell the Dark’s foul breath. Lance knew that the Dark wanted very much to eat him. He also knew that it would only take one gulp, because the Dark in Lance’s closet was very, very big, and the Dark in Lance’s closet was very, very hungry.

Fortunately, Lance had one strong weapon against the Dark. He knew that, more than anything else, the Dark was afraid of the light, and so Lance would only sleep with the lights on. For extra protection, he surrounded himself with flashlights, nightlights, even glow-in-the-dark toys - Lance didn’t want to take any chances.

Lance’s sister, Mallory, made fun of Lance and all of his silly precautions. She giggled whenever she saw Lance lying in bed, lit from all directions, like he was on stage. “Lance is afraid of the dark!” she told little Annie Brickhouse.

“Lance is afraid of the dark!” said little Annie to all of the others.

“Lance is afraid of the dark! Lance is afraid of the dark!” All of the children began teasing him, taunting him.

Lance tried to tell them that he wasn’t afraid of the dark in the way that most children are afraid of the dark. He was afraid of the ferocious, wild animal, called the Dark, that lived inside his closet!

But the other children were not interested in Lance’s long-winded explanations. The details didn’t concern them. All they knew was that Lance was afraid of the dark - like a scared-y-cat, a wimp, a baby!

“LANCE IS AFRAID OFF THE DARK! LANCE IS AFRAID OF THE DARK!” they chanted. And hearing this repeatedly, all day, every day, only served to make Lance more nervous, more desperate, more hopelessly afraid of the Dark.

Soon, Lance’s fears began preventing him from sleeping. His precautions grew more and more extreme. He began stuffing the crack under his closet door with clothes, socks, underwear. He began demanding that his mother leave on, not only the lights in his room, but all of the lights in the house.

One night, Lance’s mother opened Lance’s bedroom door to check on her son. She found him lying wide awake, trembling. From head to toe, he was wrapped in Christmas lights, all blinking on and off in bright, Christmas colors.

The next day, she made an appointment for Lance to see a psychiatrist.
“He’s afraid of the dark”, she told the doctor. “Lance is afraid of the dark.”

“That’s not exactly true,” Lance interrupted, “I’m not afraid of the dark in the way that other children are afraid of the dark. I’m afraid of the ferocious, wild animal, called the Dark, that lives inside my closet!”

“I understand, Lance,” replied the doctor, stroking his beard. “You see, when I was your age, I too believed that the hungry, black Dark inside my closet wanted to eat me. I too wrapped myself in Christmas lights, and stuffed the crack under my closet door with clothes, socks and underwear. But I grew to realize that my fears were baseless and irrational. And you must do the same!”

Then the doctor turned to Lance’s mother. His eyes were very dark, very serious. “If you ever want your son to be normal, here’s what you must do ...”

That night, Lance’s mother followed all of the doctor’s orders.

“The Dark’s going to eat me!” cried Lance as his mother removed all the lights from his room, including flashlights, nightlights and glow-in-the-dark toys.

“The Dark’s going to eat me!” cried Lance as his mother removed his closet door from its hinges.

“The Dark’s going to eat me! Don’t you see? The Dark’s going to eat me!”

But Lance’s mother wouldn’t listen. When she was finished, she kissed Lance on the forehead. “Goodnight,” she said as she left the room, locking the door behind her.

Petrified, Lance listened to his mother’s footsteps receding in the hallway. Then he listened to the silence that followed.

“The Dark’s going to eat me.” Lance whispered to himself, despairing. “The Dark’s going to eat me.”

Then Lance heard a sound, faint but unmistakable. It was coming from his closet - a huffing, puffing, breathing sound! The huffing and puffing grew louder and closer, until finally Lance felt the presence of the Dark enter his room. He sensed the Dark as it flowed out across the floor, sensed the Dark as it crept up onto his bed.

“THE DARK’S GOING TO EAT ME!” Lance screamed as the Dark engulfed him.

“THE DARK’S GOING TO EAT ME!” Lance screamed, choking on the stench of the Dark’s foul breath.

All of a sudden, something very strange happened: The Dark didn’t swallow Lance in one big gulp. Instead, it licked his face! It covered him, like a warm, fuzzy blanket, and adoringly licked his face.

Tears filled Lance’s eyes as the Dark hugged him, and he hugged the Dark back.

“Oh, you poor Dark,” he whispered gently. “You poor sweet Dark!”

The hall light went on.

“Lance, are you alright?” called Lance’s mother.

“Yes, I’m fine”, announced Lance. “I now realize that the doctor was right. My fears were baseless and irrational. The Dark in my closet isn’t ferocious or wild, or even hungry. It’s just lonely. Oh, mother, I’m so happy! I’m not afraid of the Dark anymore! The Dark is my friend! In fact, it’s my best friend! The Dark is the best friend that I’ll ever have!”

Then Lance added, fondly, “If only it didn’t have such foul breath!”

Lance’s mother stood in the hallway, tired and confused, listening to Lance lying in his bedroom, giggling, as if something were tickling him. Suddenly, she heard Lance call out again - this time to scold her.

“Now turn that light off,” he demanded, sternly, “or you’ll scare it away!”

“Yes dear, whatever you say,” Lance’s mother replied with a sigh. Then, shaking her head, she switched off the light, and walked through the dark, dark hallway on her way back to bed.

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