#smallcloudeswritting

Had an idea from this prompt utilizing one of my agere OCs, so here goes!

The First Night

Darryl William’s was certainly used to being alone in his room at night, as an only child it was kind of a given. What he wasn’t used to however, was a distinct lack of his precious nightlight. His parents had schooled him about it for years.

“You’re way too old to need a nightlight, Dare,” They’d say,” How are you supposed to be a responsible adult if you still act like a child?” 

However, despite their complaints, Dare couldn’t bear the thought of sleeping without it. You never know what lies in the darkness, with a nightlight there’s no darkness to worry about. He could sleep peacefully knowing exactly what was around him, knowing there was nothing there to hurt him. This also kept his regression at bay. If his parents were displeased with his usage of a nightlight they certainly wouldn’t be accepting of him legitimately acting like a child, whether it was helping him or not. Having a nightlight there kept his fears away which in turn held back his regression until he was certain he was safe to indulge in it.

Now, however, he didn’t have that. It was his first night in his new dorm, he was lucky enough to not have a roommate and instead have a single room but unlucky enough to arrive at the school itself too late and not have enough time to unbox any of his belongings before the darkness came to settle in and he was rendered incapacitated with terror.

Curled up in a bundle of blankets on a mattress with no sheets, Darryl sat crying and shaking with nothing but his tiny phone light to illuminate the area directly around him. He knew it was irrational, logically there was nothing that was going to hurt him, but did fear ever care about logic? So, there he sat: alone, scared and regressed, with nothing to do but wait until he either fell asleep or the morning to come. 

It felt as though hours had passed, realistically it was only about 45 minutes, but there was only so long his body could keep up with crying before his tear ducts ran dry and exhaustion had come to sit with him. He was tired, and annoyed, and even if he was scared he didn’t want to be stuck on his bed shaking all night long. He wanted to have energy in the morning, he wanted his stuffed animals, and, most importantly, he wanted his nightlight, but he couldn’t get any of this in the state he was in now. 

Darryl took a deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth, and prepared to coax himself out of his terror. First things first, he needed to ground himself. He needed the reminder of where he was, and that he was safe. His eyes darted around the room, his phone flashlight quick to follow. 5 things I can see, 5 things I can see, 5 things I can see, he thought to himself, desk, bed, closet, nightstand, bed Another deep breath, 1 down, 4 to go. 4 things I can hear, Darryl continued, breathing, crickets, air conditioning, uhm– uhhhh As if right on cue, gentle footsteps could be heard just outside the door, walking down the hall, footsteps! Dare breathed in again, 3 things I can feel, easy! Blanket, mattress, pillow Another breath, another step, 2 things I can smell. This was a harder one, there was a very clear lack of things to smell at the moment. This was fine though, Dare could always find something. The dusty dorm and- oh! He buried his nose into his sweater sleeve, I can smell home… and one thing I can taste Darryl looked up at the closet, that before had seemed so scary and so far away. The taste of victory.

Oh so carefully Dare tiptoed his way over to the closet. Digging in box after box until he found a teddy bear and his beloved nightlight. He happily plugged it into the nearest outlet, basking in the soft glow, before climbing back into bed and falling into a peaceful rest.