glow in the dark stars scare monsters

written by yagyesha roy

cover photo by joanna chung

she was scared

of a lot of things

while she was a child.

 

insects.

snakes.

fire.

 

she was never scared of the dark.

 

she had her first sleepover

right before she started grade school.

 

we’re gonna be big kids now,

she whispered to her friend.

our badges will finally have numbers.

 

her friend nodded,

excited.

 

they talked for hours.

 

her friend’s father came in

to let them know

it was time for bed.

 

he shut off the lamp

but turned on the nightlight

before he left.

 

she was confused.

 

when they turned to each other to talk

she asked her friend

why that happened.

 

oh,

they said.

i’m scared of the dark.

 

aren’t you?

 

she fell asleep that night.

 

once she goes home

she stares out her window

in the dead of night

 

the slivers of moonlight

slip through the blinds

caressing her cheek.

 

how could she ever be scared of this?

 

it’s a few years later

when her brother tells her

that one main reason of racism and slavery

was because europeans

thought that the dark

was bad.

 

so they killed them.

 

it’s then that she realizes

that you never lose fear.

 

she’d been told

growing up

how to act around certain people.

 

certain white skinned people.

 

she was so busy

trying to find out why

people were scared of the dark

 

that she never realized

the light had always scared her.

 

the fires lit outside at night

sent shivers through her body.

the flick of the lamp switch

caused her eyes to flinch.

 

the light spent so much time

killing and driving away

the dark

 

that it never realized

when the dark moved voluntarily

at the mere suggestion

of light.

 

darkness is the absence of light,

they had said.

they were wrong.

 

the dark was not darkness,

but intimidation of light.

 

~ glow in the dark stars scare monsters