This is the story of Emelina and the Dark,
Written by Jolene Joy Moss.
Emelina spun around faster and faster in her strong cloth swing,
Until it tightened and slowed and then sent her untwisting in the opposite direction.
It's time for bed,
Kids,
Mama called from the kitchen.
Little Jack scooped up his yellow flashlight and clicked it on and off several times to make sure it worked.
Then he ran to his bed and hopped in with his books and blankets.
Emelina leapt out of the swing right when it finished untwisting.
The momentum of her leap carried her on her tippy toes all the way to her bed,
Where she plopped down and picked up her own blue flashlight.
Mama reached into the room and switched off the big room light.
Both flashlights glowed in the dark,
One yellow light in Jack's bed and one blue light in Emelina's bed.
Emelina picked up her flower-printed diary from the edge of the bed and opened it to a page with drawings and words scrawled on it.
She pulled her blanket over her head and the flashlight to make a secret diary fort around her.
Little Jack pulled out a special book from his pile that had cut out pictures in the hardboard pages.
I made a tree,
Jack squealed,
And there was a tree made of light on the darkened wall.
Jack shined his flashlight through the cut-out hole on the next page and it made a star-shaped light on the wall.
A star!
A moon!
Nice,
Jackie.
You're using your light to make beautiful shapes in the dark,
Said Mama.
I like the dark,
Said Emelina,
From under her blanket.
You do?
Asked Mama.
Well,
I used to be scared of the dark,
Said Emelina,
Pulling the blanket down from her head,
But I like having flashlights.
Look,
Look,
Cried Little Jack,
Look at my moon!
I see it,
Said Mama,
And you know what?
I can only ever see your light shine the way it does so beautifully if it's dark all around us.
That's like our world right now,
Said Emelina.
It's kind of like a big dark cloud that we can't see in very well.
Everything is different and kind of weird,
Like we're in a dark room,
Figuring it out.
Oh,
I like that description,
Said Mama.
Good point.
But when it's dark all around us,
That's when we can see our light.
You know,
Mama?
I think I know,
Mama smiled.
With her head tilted to the side.
But will you tell me what you're thinking?
Emelina tilted her head,
Too.
Like when people do hard things,
Even though it's hard.
Or when people do nice things and help each other.
Or when people make up new things to solve a big problem.
That's like our light.
Yeah,
Said Mama,
Looking surprised,
Said Emelina.
That's kind of really wise,
Emelina.
But we can't see that stuff as much when there's no crisis.
Why do you think that is,
Asked Mama.
I think it's because we're all too busy.
It's too full on normal days.
You can't see it as good.
Can't see it as well,
Said Mama.
Yeah,
And maybe people aren't doing as much hard stuff or nice stuff or helping,
Too,
Added Emelina.
Maybe people forget that they can solve big problems.
You might be right,
Said Mama.
Maybe when it's dark all around us,
We can see our edges better.
We can see which part is us and which part was coming from outside us all along.
Jack flicked his little flashlight up and down and the light stars and the light moon all moved up and down the dark wall.
All right,
Kiddos,
It's lights off for tonight,
Said Mama.
No,
I don't want to,
Whined little Jack.
No,
Mama,
Squealed Emelina,
We have to be a light in the dark.
Actually,
We don't always have to be a light,
Laughed Mama.
Sometimes the dark is meant to be just dark.
And sometimes we're meant to do nothing more than rest.
And sometimes we're meant to do nothing more than rest.
And sometimes we're meant to do nothing more than rest.
And sometimes we're meant to do nothing more than rest.
