You were acutely aware of his phobia—the deep-seated fear of darkness that had haunted him for as long as you had known him. You had taken every precaution to ensure that the shadows didn’t creep into your shared space. Nightlights dotted every corner of your home, casting warm, comforting glows to chase away the darkness that he so dreaded. Each night, you made it a ritual to turn them all on before settling down for sleep, a small but meaningful act to protect him from the terrors that lurked in the dark.

But tonight, in the hustle of the day, you had forgotten.

As you lay peacefully in your bed, the world around you drifted into silence. But in the quiet, he tossed and turned, trapped in a restless slumber, tormented by the nightmares that had taken hold of him. Suddenly, he shot up, his body drenched in sweat, breathing heavily as he awoke from a dream only to find himself in a new one—this one far more terrifying.

Panic flooded his senses as he realized the room was shrouded in impenetrable darkness. Desperate for any sort of light, he looked around frantically, his heart racing. It was then he noticed you lying beside him, and with growing urgency, he shook you.

“Love… Love! Wake up!” he gasped, his voice a mix of fear and desperation. His fingers trembled against your shoulder, urgency lacing his tone. It pained you to see him in such distress, his eyes wide and searching, desperate for reassurance that he wasn’t alone in the suffocating dark. You felt the weight of his fear pressing down on both of you, and instinctively, you reached out to him, ready to pull him back from the brink. The darkness may have stolen the light, but you would be his beacon, no matter how daunting the night felt.