Darkness

Today I am torn between writing about dark matter ( as in the Universe), or about the other night when Lucas had nightmares after starting his book for his book report - Herbie Jones and the Dark Attic, by Suzy Kline. It is a story about a boy who moves into his house's attic for two weeks while his grandfather is visiting. The book is about overcoming fears - but, since we are not at the end of it yet - at the moment, it is all about being afraid.

So he went to bed afraid to close his eyes. The only remedy he could think of was for me to turn the light back on, and read Here You Are to him, which I did. I hadn't read the book to a child in a while. Here You Are works as a story for children 3-7, and as a picture book for even younger children. Lucas had often enough announced that he was now too old for Here You Are after it had been published. But, to my delight, nowadays, when he feels sad, afraid or lonely - he asks for it, and uses it like medicine for himself.

Whatever is closest to a child's heart - or adult's for that matter - usually surfaces by the time I get to the end of the book, and I always look forward to finding our what that is, at that moment, for each individual one. He had opted out of looking at the illustrations this time, listening to my reading with his eyes closed. At the end, I thought he had fallen asleep. I put the book away, turned off the lights, and tucked him in. Sleepily he announced: "I love playing offense, Mom." Sweet dreams, little man.