Childhood Terrors

At night.
Terrors of childhood..in words
actions
darkness.
Fear and the futility.

He walked in.
Pulled the duvet off the 7 year old girl.
Dragged her out of the bed.
Dragged her out of the room.

And.
Made her sit.
In the darkness
on a high stool
at
the
end
of
the dark hall.

No words at all.
she was frightened.
she was confused.

'You are not asleep,'

Her mother said nothing at all.

Her parents,
(her parents who should have protected her),
loved her?

close the door on their room
leaving their little girl behind,
in the dark.
In the cold.

Some time later,
the little girl crept back into her bed.

She cried alone in the dark.

She held her duvet tight
making her fingers and thumbs ache
for weeks after...

A futile attempt to protect herself.

She never slept well.
Especially after that.