He opened his eyes and there, white-smiled and wide-eyed in the midnight gloom, was the creature.
It hung back against the wall: long arms, long body, round head. Hairy, but in the way a shadow is hairy. A thing knit of night itself.
Before, he had closed his eyes and given in to fitful sleep. But now he gathered his courage and spoke: ‘What are you doing here?’
–Watching over you– Its voice was muffled and warped. –Rest now. You’re safe.–
After a moment, he did.
—
A microfiction with thanks to Quiet Rain for tipping on Ko-Fi. Image by StockSnap from Pixabay, used under Pixabay License.