Day 2: It’s Alive

Aliza looked up from beneath the edge of her quilt to the jar glowing faintly blue in the darkness of her bedroom. A jar her mother had left there before departing for the evening with father. A light left to guard her through the long hours. A light too dim to see her room by.

But she could hear. Presently she heard the scritch, scritch, scritch of the creeper creeping over her bedroom floor. Aliza couldn’t fathom how they thought themselves stealthy when the made such a noise. Lowering her gaze, from the jar to the foot of her bed, she saw the creeper peer over it.

She wrinkled her nose, a movement lost behind the protection of her blanket. “You might as well go, you’ll never get to me,” she said proud her voice was only lightly muffled.

“You think that blanket will aid you?” the creeper hissed preaching on her footboard.

“No.” Aliza looked up from the creeper to the blue jar glowing above again.

The creeper scoffed. Aliza looked back at him to see him rolling precariously balanced on the foot of her bed. “Don’t tell me you count a light? I fear not things which merely gleam.”

Aliza sniffed again and saw it catch its breath and stretch out one leg to perch on the foot of her bed. A long skinny mottled grey leg. “No,” she said again quietly. I don’t expect mere light to guard me.”

The creeper’s foot touched her quilt and the light flared. A loud pop filled the room and the blue surged out of the bottle enveloping the creeper. It squalled and pulled back, too late. The light as mother had promised consumed the creeper.

The room empty and quiet, the light didn’t return to its jar. Instead, it settled over her quilt and pressed lightly against her hand. Aliza ran her hand over the light and smiled softly. Silly creeper. Mere light wasn’t alive, and this light lived. Snuggling into her bed, Aliza closed her eyes.