The moment his sleepy eyes focused, he burst into uncontrollable laughter, instantly dissolving the tension I’d built up in my mind. Between giggles, he explained it was just a 3D‑printed stand for his video game controller, something he’d proudly made and then completely forgotten. Standing there in the half‑light, we both laughed at how easily an ordinary object had become a monster in the dark, and how fear can thrive where understanding is missin.
This evening, we had a power outage. I went into my son’s room to get some candles from under his bed, and suddenly I discovered this.
