The Blue Hour

Night

A black penguin looked inquisitively from the bedroom door, mirroring the expression of the boy that held the stuffed animal.

The boy, not older than four, stood at the threshold with his dark green pyjama pants and Avengers Shirt, brown hair dishevelled from tossing and turning in his bed.

Hushed voices and noises had disrupted his peaceful sleep, leaving him wide awake and curious in his bedroom, which he subsequently had abandoned to investigate. His penguin as trusty assistant.

The hallway had been dark except for the green glowing night light from his bedroom and soft yellow, lightening his parents bedroom. As he had neared the room he noticed his mother frantically looking for something. His father not in sight.

"Have you al-", she turned to stumble back a bit, surprised that her son stood at the door post.

"Go pick your favourite toys, we are going on a trip", she said, immediately dismissing him.

Just as she turned around to resume her packing her husband appeared behind their son, obviously done with getting the car ready.

Picking up the little boy, he carried him to his room and set him down, to get his toys and clothes.

"Where are we going?", the boy asked.

His father sighed. "I wish I knew, champ. Go get your things and I promise to get you a pack of sour worms."

Immediately, the expression of the boy switched from glum to exited, running to cram his Spongebob Squarepants backpack full with his favourite dolls and cars.

After filling the trunk with all their essentials, they entered the car still in their nightgowns. The sky void of sunlight. However they weren't the only ones up. The usually, at that time, quiet street was buzzing with people running about shouting to remind the others to pack what they would need.

The soft car seat and quiet murmurs of the radio and his parents voices slowly lulled the boy back to sleep, the penguin still clutched in his tiny meaty hands.

Soon the car pulled up at the local gas station. While his father filled up the tank, he entered the convenience store with his mother, the light flickering with every step they took. After she had sent him to the sweets aisle to pick his choice, so she could browse the magazines near the check-out counter, he wandered of to the back of the store were he noticed an open box room. Toys littered the floor, a treasure box next to the door and a hunched figure under a midnight blue blanket splattered with tiny yellow dots, like the night sky in rural areas, at the far end corner of the room.

The boy tightened his grip on the penguin, entered the room, noticing that the box illuminated the room in different hues making this nightly encounter seem surreal. Something else he noticed was, that the toys he only momentarily acknowledged were not merely lying on the floor, but rather moved on their own, darting past his bare feet, ignoring the strange boy, when suddenly the figure underneath the blanket surfaced revealing a boy that looked exactly like him but for the strikingly sharp yellow eyes.

Startled the penguin fell from the boys hands, happily trudging along finally free from the harsh grip. The yellow eyes of the familiar boy drew the other in, a dangerous glint in them.

Quickly, the boy turned to exit the room and find his parents, only to find the store barren of any human soul. Outside to the far right he could see cars rushing to get away. However to the left there was nothing. Realizing that his parents were no were in sight, a tear fell on his cheek, leading the path of the following river.

The invisible dangerous threat slowly inched towards him, as if hypnotized by his wails. Silently silencing the boy, catching him by surprise. Soon a darkness engulfed him, to once and for all throw him into a blinding white light.

Raising his hand to shield his squinting eyes, his sight slowly grew accustomed to his recognizable environment. Sun light peeked through the partly covered window, the source of his discomfort. He sat upright in his bed, his bedroom not any different than in his memories. He picked up the white polar bear lying next to him, his bare feet paddling towards the kitchen from which he heard voices come from. There he saw his mother sitting on the island counter holding a steaming mug of coffee, giggling while his father stood at the stove cooking, chuckling to himself. Guessing by the delicious scent probably his infamous pancakes. Noticing the arrival of a certain midget, the woman turned around a big smile plastered on her face.

"Sleeping beauty arose from his deep slumber!", she said ruffling his hair in return receiving a scrunched face making her and her husband laugh. She scooped the little boy into her arms, yearningly staring at him with her soft yellow eyes, while he melted in her embrace, eyes closed and a bright smile on his face.