The monster’s eyes were wide open, in uncontrollable fright. He had been trying to fall asleep for two hours, but the dark switch was off. All the monster could see in the blinding brightness of daylight were fuzzy white outlines, which could hide all sorts of things. The monster looked around the room, half expecting to see a terrifying boy peering back at him. He cautiously peeked out from under his bed, to check if any boys were around the corner, prepared to eat him. When he did not find any, he ran as fast as he could to the dark switch, flipped it on, and ran back under the bed. He readied himself for the boy’s jaws, which would surely close around him any moment now.
When he did not feel himself being devoured, the monster allowed himself a look around the room. He was immediately comforted by the complete darkness that enveloped the room. With his nocturnal eyes, he was able to see every detail of the room. The monster went to sleep content.
In the evening, however, after the sun had set, he stumbled to breakfast to find two disappointed-looking monster parents glaring back at him.
“You turned on the dark switch again!” said Papa monster.
“ Because there are boys on my bed!” the child monster responded. “It won’t eat me if the lights are off!”
“Boys don’t exist! And even if they did, there are certainly none in this house. The important thing is, you need to stop turning on the darkness when it’s bright out. Even though we are nocturnal creatures, we can still sleep by daylight.”
“And you’re not always going to have access to a dark switch,” added Mama monster. “You need to accept that you have darkness when you’re awake, and light when you’re asleep. That’s just how the world works.”
“You see? It’s important to be able to live with not knowing what’s around you when the sun is shining. It takes courage, but it’s necessary .Now, tonight, you will not only refrain from even touching the dark switch, but you will go to sleep in brightness, and remain asleep until darkness rises. End of discussion.” said Papa monster.
Alas, it might’ve been the end of the discussion, but it was still stuck in the monster’s head all throughout the night. Even during recess, when he would usually run around and play with his friends, he just sat in a corner and dreaded going back home. When he came home, the monster dreaded dinner that morning. And during dinner, he dreaded going to bed. But, unfortunately, the time came when the sun was rising and it was time for the monster to go to sleep.
“Now remember, you’re not to so much as lay a finger on the dark switch tonight,” warned Papa monster.
The child monster could only glumly nod and crawl under his bed.
Soon enough, the darkness faded away completely, to be replaced by the blinding light that brought terror to the monster’s heart. Instinctively, he started preparing to make a run for the dark switch, but then stopped. He remembered what his father had said about courage, and had a moment of revelation. For it had always taken bravery to run out from the security of his bed to turn on the darkness. But to not do anything, and to fall asleep knowing that boys were on top of your bed, that was not bravery.
That was, truly, courage.
When the monster realized this, he looked at his ordeal in a different manner. Instead of it being a horrible nuisance, he saw it as an opportunity to show maturity. He knew it would be difficult, but he also understood that it really was necessary.
So, he took a deep breath...
and fell asleep.