Written by DeAnna Erdmann
It was a dark and stormy night. Noelle lay in bed and pulled the covers up over her head as another flash of lightning lit up her room. She peeked out in fear and wonder when the roar of thunder quickly followed. With each flash her eyes saw something different on her walls. Shadows were appearing everywhere, even where she had never notice anything before. And the loud thunder made her shiver. She could feel the scared fingers crawling their way from her toes to her head.
She tried to snuggle her favorite stuffy, a plush Curious George monkey, tightly to her chest, but she still felt scared. She started to sing a little song, making up words and rhythms in an attempt to comfort and distract herself. She still felt scared and flinched when the lightning lit up her room. Noelle knew that there was only one cure to this type of scared… Mommy.
She threw back her covers and jumped out of bed, but just as her feet hit the floor another flash of lightning filled the sky. She scrambled back onto her bed and scrambled to get the covers over her. It took her another minute under the covers to gain enough confidence to try again. Slowly she pulled the covers down to her nose and peered around the room. She pushed the covers down her tummy and wiggled her legs out. Putting one after the other over the side of the bed as she cautiously waited for lightning or thunder, but when it didn’t come she bolted toward the door. She threw it open and was in the hall quick as a bunny.
Noelle slowly turned the knob on her parents’ bedroom door. She quietly pushed it opened and crept into their room. She froze in fear when lightning lit up their room, putting her little hands over her mouth when the booming thunder made her yelp. The fear slowly wormed its way from her body and she took a few steps forward to her mother’s side of the bed. She looked at her mother and knew that she just needed to reach out to touch her and she would be safe in her arms, but she couldn’t move.
Noelle mustered up a little whimper and she could see her mommy stir at the sound… so she decided to make a little bit louder of a whimpering noise. This bigger noise startled her mother awake and her eyes snapped open and instantly zeroed in on Noelle’s. “Oh honey, come here.” She said as she reached out and gathered Noelle into her arms.
Noelle snuggled in close to her mommy’s neck, breathing in her scent which instantly calmed her tummy. With her mother wrapped around her she felt safe and peaceful. She yawned real big and rubbed her eyes before settling in to the pillow. Lightning and thunder filled the room, but Noelle didn’t notice because she was fast asleep in the safety and comfort of her mother’s arms.