I Wasn't Always Afraid of the Dark (Constrained Writing Contest #27)

This was written in response to a prompt in @svashta's Constrained Writing Contest. The prompt was "I Wasn't Always Afraid of the Dark". There had to be at least 250 words, and point of view was that of an animal. Irresistible and fun. Here's my story:

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I wasn't always afraid of the dark, but then darkness became everything, and terror consumed me.

I woke, and thought it was night, but the house was still--not in the way that suggested slumber, but in a way that shouted solitude. I was alone, in the dark. The room was familiar. My whiskers helped to guide me, so I did not knock into walls or furniture. I made my way gingerly across the floor. There were voices outside. I heard them through my fear. I knew them. I called out, but they were too excited, too absorbed in their activity to hear my small plaint.

I padded down the stairs. Those folds in the rug, the creak in the fourth step--each a friend, saying softly, "You are home. You know me." I never needed light before, not here. But now, I was terrified of the dark.

Would this blankness be my world? Would I have to guess who was near, and if their intent was benign or malicious? My mind traveled where I never imagined it would go, to a world of dark. To a world where sound and touch would rule.

I finally reached the lower landing. Voices were closer now. They were shouting, but they weren't afraid. It must not have been dark for them, or surely they would have expressed the terror that gripped my heart, that paralyzed my thoughts. My soft pace across the kitchen floor was marked more by hesitancy than stealth. Would I forever be doomed to walk with care? Would my catlike grace be sacrificed to an eternity of watchfulness?

I made it to the back door. Still dark, everywhere, but the voices were loud now. A comfort, to hear those sounds of family. Love, I knew, would envelope me, would protect me, as far as love can do that.

In an instant the voices reached a crescendo.

"Look, it's coming back. The moon is moving off and the sun is peaking from behind its shadow."

My family! I could see! I could see them! They were all holding peculiar devices and staring at the sky. What a wonder was their behavior. But then, they were always acting oddly, so I accepted this. The true wonder was that light had returned.

I could see! I could see!