The Night

• Katherine Shipp, Grade 8, Penrith High School
• Short Story
• 2018

Finalist in the 'Time To Write 2018/2019' competition

Very few know the secrets of the Night, as very few dare to find out. There is no curfew, yet people lock their doors and cover their windows whenever the dreaded Nightfall appears. Only the elders can tell you what the stars look like, for only they were alive before we began to fear the Night. Only they believe in the moon.
Of course, I always knew there had to be something out there. Every adult I’d ever known would say to me that only danger and sorrow awaited me outside the brightly lit house I grew up in, with its featureless white walls and plain furniture. But, it was when I met Mrs. Grace, the elderly woman at the end of my street, that I was convinced to finally see what was truly out there.
“Don’t let them sway you,” she’d told me, “I understand that you want to be loyal to your family, but sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands. You want to find out what really happens at Night? You’ll just have to see for yourself, dear.” I decided then that I would give in to my curiosity and began to formulate a plan.
One evening, I went to my room and shut off the lights, a signal to my parents that I had fallen asleep. When it was well past midnight and there were no sounds coming from the living room, I crept through the house, quietly unlocked the front door with the key hidden in the kitchen cupboard and stepped onto my front porch. A soft breeze blew stray leaves across the ground. I looked up and saw what I’d been waiting for.
The Night had decorated the sky with an endless expanse of glittering stars and a glowing white disk that sat high in the darkness above reflecting beautiful silver light. The moon. I couldn’t help but smile as I gazed upon the scene that had been laid out before me. How could something so beautiful be feared?
Out of the corner of my eye, a dark shape darted behind a tree. Letting my curiosity get the better of me, I walked carefully to it and looked down. A small creature sat quivering in the dim moonlight, covering its face with tiny black hands.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I smiled, gently pushing its hands away. “What are you, little friend?” It looked up, and it appeared that its body was made of coalescing shadows.
“I am one of the Night.” It stood up shakily on its black, spindly legs. “We fear the humans, so we only come out in the dark. We put up the moon in hopes the humans will see it as a peace offering.”
“Us humans fear your kind, yet it seems we have nothing to be afraid of.” I held my hand out and the creature took it, a smile dancing on its smoky features. “Come, show me the Night.”
Together, we walked into the moonlight.