[ TT ] One can only hide from the darkness for so long until the candle dies out .

When Felicia picked up the wand, it felt cold and dead. She ran her index finger up and down the smooth wood, then rolled it between her palms. The wood may as well have been straw. `` I do n't feel anything, Daddy,'' she said. 
 
 Her father Aurelius took the wand and placed its butt against her five-year old palm. `` Grip it like this,'' he said, laying her thumb over the top and wrapping her fingers around the bottom. `` Hold it gently. Do n't squeeze too hard.'' He let go of her hand. `` Now reach out for it with your mind. It's there, it's a good wand. You can connect with it.'' 
 
 Felicia concentrated. She shut out the noise of the street and the smell of her mother's cooking, and she focused her eyes on the wand's polished brown surface. The wand was there, she knew, because she could feel it in her hands and because Daddy had assured her it was. She drilled her gaze deeper into the wand. If she focused, surely she could connect to the wand. Then her vision drifted for a moment, and she realized she was gripping the wand so tight her hand was shaking. 
 
 Felicia threw the wand down. `` I ca n't do it, Daddy. I'm like Mommy. I do n't have magic.'' 
 
 `` I know you do, sweetie,'' Aurelius said. `` We can practice more later.'' 
 
 That evening, after Felicia's father had tucked her into bed, she asked him, `` Why do I have to learn magic anyway?'' 
 
 Aurelius stroked her hair. `` Because you're a powerful sorceress. I can feel it in you. Some day soon, you'll be able to feel your wand and cast spells. You'll be able to summon your wand to you when you need it. You'll be able to anything you like.'' He stood up. `` I'm going to leave your wand right here on your nightstand, okay?'' 
 
 `` It's no good. I ca n't use it.'' 
 
 `` Someday you will. Good night, dearest daughter.'' Aurelius leaned over to kiss her. 
 
 Felicia rolled away. `` You forgot the night light!'' 
 
 `` Do you still need a night light? You're getting to be such a big girl.'' 
 
 Felicia shook her head. `` The monsters under the bed will get me.'' 
 
 `` All right, then. Your daddy has always had trouble saying no.'' With a wave of his wand, Aurelius created a little globe of light. He placed it next to the wand. `` Do n't worry. I'll always do what I can for you.'' 
 
 A week later, Felicia was at the kitchen table again, holding her wand and concentrating. Aurelius said, `` The wand is only a tool. When you connect with the wand, you're really connecting with yourself.'' 
 
 Felicia relaxed her grip and closed her eyes. Then an electric pulse shot through her. She yelped and dropped the wand. `` What was that?'' she asked. 
 
 Aurelius laughed and picked up the wand. `` You connected with it.'' 
 
 `` Wow,'' Felicia said. She took the wand again and began to practice. 
 
 At bedtime that evening, Felicia told her father, `` It's okay, Daddy. I do n't need a night light anymore.'' 
 
 `` Your Daddy is proud of you,'' Aurelius said as he kissed her good night. 
 
 After her father left, Felicia huddled in bed with her wand. Within minutes, she sensed the monsters moving under the bed. They knew she was alone in the dark, and she could hear their growls and moans. The sound of them sharpening their claws grated against her ears. She put the blankets over her head and held her wand in both hands. 
 
 As the monsters emerged from underneath Felicia's bed, their claws scraped the bedroom floor. Felicia held herself motionless. She could hear the floorboards creak as they crept around the room looking for her. She could feel a monster next to her bed. It had three eyes, and it was looking to see if she was in bed. It leaned over, and Felicia choked on the stench of its breath. The poison from its fangs dripped through the blanket and burned her skin. Against her will, she whimpered. 
 
 Felicia had been discovered. A skeletal hand reached under her blanket and grabbed her leg. `` Go away, monsters!'' she yelled as she pointed her wand at her feet. But nothing happened. With a cry she realized she could n't feel her wand. It was in her hands, but she had lost the ability to sense it. It was the same lifeless wood that it had been yesterday and the day before that. The monsters ripped off her covers, and their slimy tentacles slithered around her. Felicia felt a claw pierce her arm, and she screamed. Their mouths were all around her, tearing into her flesh, chewing on her organs, and gnawing on her bones. She screamed again, over and over, as loud as she could. 
 
 Aurelius opened the bedroom door. `` Felicia? What's wrong?'' 
 
 Felicia peeked her head out from beneath her blankets. Her eyes were red, and her face was streaked with tears. `` Monsters, Daddy. They were everywhere, and my wand did n't work.'' 
 
 Aurelius sat on the edge of the bed and embraced her. `` Your wand still works. But you're the one who can make the monsters go away, not the wand. Now,'' he said, `` I'm going to make a night light for you.'' 
 
 Two weeks later, as Aurelius and his wife Beatrix brought Felicia home from the park, Aurelius was run over by a drunken carriage driver. Beatrix rushed him to the healer, but his chest had been crushed, and he bled to death before they arrived. 
 
 That evening, Beatrix tucked Felicia into bed. `` Daddy ca n't tuck you in anymore, sweetie,'' she said. 
 
 `` Can you make a night light for me?'' asked Felicia. 
 
 `` I'll leave you a candle,'' said Beatrix. 
 
 As Felicia lay in bed, she watched the candle burn in its holder on her nightstand. The light kept the monsters at bay until Felicia was soundly asleep. Late in the evening, however, Felicia awoke. The candle had burned itself out. She was alone and in the dark. That was when the monsters came. 
 
 Felicia hid under the covers again. The monsters knew where she hid now, and within moments they had surrounded her bed. They began to probe under her bed, looking for her so that they could tear her apart. She shivered. A talon grabbed her hand. Rows of teeth shredded the covers, exposing Felicia to the cold night air. The monsters stretched out her arms and legs and held her in place. Felicia could see them preparing a carriage with horses and wheels and passengers and a driver who could n't sit upright. They aimed it so that the right front wheel would go straight over her chest like it had over Daddy's. 
 
 But as Felicia watched the carriage wheel approach, she felt a friendly force at the edge of her consciousness. She stretched out her hand and called to it. Her wand flew into her hand. Wresting free of the monsters' grip, she pointed her wand at the oncoming carriage, and with a yell, the carriage vanished. Then, pointing her wand around her, she annihilated the monsters one by one. Each one melted and vanished back into the shadows from whence it came. The monsters tried to flee back under her bed, but Felicia followed them to their lair and destroyed them. 
 
 Now Felicia was alone in the dark but safe. She climbed back into bed, got under her blanket, and, still gripping her wand, closed her eyes. But she could still hear noises coming from the darkness, not the noises of the monsters, but something else. 
 
 Felicia got up and searched. At the door to her parents' bedroom, she stopped. She could hear her mother crying inside. She opened the door. Beatrix sat up. `` Who's there?'' she asked. 
 
 `` Mommy, it's me,'' said Felicia. 
 
 `` Go back to sleep,'' said Beatrix. 
 
 `` I heard you crying.'' 
 
 `` Do n't worry about me. Just go back to sleep.'' 
 
 Felicia climbed onto the bed. `` It's scary, Mommy, but you'll be okay.'' She embraced her mother, then, with a gentle nudge, convinced her mother to lie back down. With a wave of her wand, Felicia conjured a tiny globe of light. `` I used to want Daddy to make me a night light. I do n't think I ever needed it, but I liked it. Do you want a night light, Mommy?'' 
 
 `` Right now, I think I would. Thank you, sweetie.'' 
 
 Felicia put the night light next to her mother. She leaned over the bed and said, `` Good night, dearest mother.'' Beatrix relaxed into the mattress and closed her eyes. Then Felicia returned to her room, put her wand aside, and went to bed.
