It's 10:40pm, on Monday, October 15. My wife and I have just tended to our daughter who turns three years old in exactly one week. We'd put our daughter down to sleep around 9pm and were watching television when we heard her start crying. Running to her room I opened the door and was met with darkness. I flicked the switch inside the doorway but the light did not go on so I crossed the room to where the lamp stood and flicked the switch there, but still the lamp did not go on. I leaned over, found the night-light in the outlet and turned it on. By its light I could see the plug to the lamp laying on the floor; it had been pulled out of the wall. I plugged the lamp back in and once again the room was filled with light... Just like we'd left it an hour and a half ago.
Our daughter doesn't like to sleep in the dark so not only does she have her night-light, but we've been leaving her lamp on until we go to bed, too.
I picked my daughter up and my wife and I calmed her down and got her back into bed, and then she said those words parents the world over have probably heard many times before, but just written off as their baby having a bad dream.
"I scared. There are people behind the door..."
In light of other things that have happened in our house before tonight, I didn't even need to look at my wife to know exactly what she was thinking.
As I tucked my daughter in I said quite loudly, "Leave the lights alone. You've scared the little girl. She doesn't like the dark. It's not funny so leave the lights alone..."
My daughter looked up at me and I smiled and winked at her, and she smiled back at me. We kissed her goodnight and as we left her room and closed the door I smiled back at her and said once more, "Leave the lights alone..."
Hiding books and small items for days at a time is harmless. Scaring my daughter by turning off the lights is a prank of a different nature, so I hope our co-inhabitants got my message that we didn't appreciate it. I don't know whether they were trying to be helpful by turning out her lights like we would do before we go to bed, or if they were just playing a joke, but we didn't find it very funny and neither did our daughter.
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I like how you took control and told whatever helpful ghost you have in your house to quit scaring your little one. I do think that it is a helpful being and nothing to worry about.
Thank you for another well written, good tale.