I have never been afraid of darkness my whole life. Even as a young girl I was never one to cry or even complain of sleeping in total darkness. My parents were fine with it. In their mind, I was just being a brave little girl.

Well, they were not exactly wrong. They just didn't know the complete story or even able to see those things.

I never know or even understand what they are. They just suddenly appeared in my life out of the blue when I was around four or five years old. As far as I understand, those creatures could take on the form of many things. Some akin to animals or shaped like humans, others with indescribale shapes.

My first experience with them was when I first saw them at the back of the curtain in my childhood room. A tiny round creature with dark fur and equally dark eyeballs. It was gliding through the sheer curtain as if flying. I concentrated my eyes on the creatures. Fixated to comprehend the creature I was seeing. My curiosity compelled me to examine further. I tiptoed my way to the edge of the curtain, trying to grasp a hold of the creature.

One... two... three...

Gotcha!

My two little hands grabbed the creature. It struggled and let out a faint squeaking sound as I tried hard not to let it go. My eyes were brimming with excitement at the marvel of such rare creatures I managed to catch in my hand. I began to examine every inch of its body. The only thing I understood was that it was round and kinda fluffy at the same time.

The creature seemed to quiet down as several minutes passed. Confused with figuring out what it was, I walked down to the living room.

Maybe ma and pa know what this is

Mom and dad were in the living room with each of them doing their own activity. It was sunday afternoon and the only time dad was usually home from his job as a travelling businessman. Mom was preparing a pot of coffee while dad was busy fixing his gaze on the newspaper. I called them with a voice that could match a banshee and they weren't exactly thrilled.

"Dearie Leila, could you please not scream? We can hear you allright," mom exclaimed with a huff of annoyance.

"Sorry ma, just got excited to show you something!"

I opened the palm of my hand and showed the creature to them. Instead of surprise, all I got was looks of confusion from both of them.

"Ummm, that's nice dearie. Is it one of your imaginary toy or maybe friend?" dad asked with a playful but, consoling voice.

The excitement I had on my face slowly went away. I realized something right away at the moment. Those creatures are only visible to me and that little fluffy ball might not be the only one I will encounter.

-To be continued-