Monsters

There is something terribly wrong. I awaken from a bad dream, but am still in that place where reality and nightmare haven't quite separated, and can't find my way through the haze. I listen for the sounds of an intruder, any sign of real danger, and I hear nothing. Yet I know its there. I can feel it all around me. Fully awake now, I search for the source of my fear and determine it's coming from the bedroom down the hall. My daughters room! She is sleeping soundly, but I sense she's in danger and needs my protection. There's an aura of evil emanating from her room.

I can't move; can't go to her. I am a mother so trapped in fear that I am paralyzed and unable to protect my own child. My husband sleeps beside me. He is the head of our family, the strength of our tiny world. I worship that strength. Trust that protection. I reach for him in the dark and with a trembling hand, touch his back softly. Just the feel of him brings me comfort and a sense of security and well being. Nothing can be wrong if he is here beside me. He would never let anything or anyone harm us. The monsters are only in my head. I drift back to sleep.

One year later, I awaken alone in my bed to the screams of a terrified child trapped in yet another one of her nightmares. I run to her now without hesitation. I am no longer afraid of the evil that lives in the darkness of our home. For I have discovered that reality is much scarier than nightmare. The truth is, children can't always be kept safe. People aren't always who they seem to be, and the monsters aren't always in your head or under the bed. Sometimes they are lying right beside you.