Once upon a time, there was a child named Emily who lived in a small town in Michigan. Every night, her parents would tuck her in and turn on her night light. One night, her mom forgot.

“Mommy! Mommy! You forgot to turn on my light!” she screamed. Her mom sighed and turned on her night light.

“There you go,” her mom replied.

    Later that night Emily woke up in the middle of the night and saw a strange figure in her closet. She got up and checked it, but there was nothing there, just a pile of coats. She sighed a sigh of relief and went back to sleep. She did not wake up again until the morning. When she woke up in the morning, she told her mom about it.

“I thought it was a monster,” she said.

“I know you did, but monsters don’t exist,” replied her mom.

    After hearing that, Emily felt better. She was still scared of the dark and wanted her nightlight. Her mom was starting to think Emily should stop being scared of the dark. She had to come up with something to show that there is nothing to be afraid of. She knew that Emily would never want her light off, so there weren’t many ways. Emily’s mom thought she could have her sleep in her room without a light, but that did not work. Emily was still afraid and wanted a light. Emily’s mom felt like there was nothing she could do. She would just have to wait.

The next day, Emily and her mom were watching the news in the living room. They heard the man on the TV say there was a big storm coming in the next few days. There would be a lot of damage to houses and there would need to be a lot of cleanup.

“Mom, is there a storm coming?” asked Emily.

“Yes, I think there is, and it’s going to be a serious one,” her mom replied, “we will probably lose power.”

“Will we be okay?” asked Emily.

“Yes, we will be fine,” replied her mom, “we will just have to prepare for it.”

Three days later, the hurricane was set to happen. Emily and her mom had gotten sandbags, water, and canned food at the store to prepare for the hurricane. Emily and her mom were watching the news very carefully all day waiting for it to come. They did not have any family they could go to so they could escape the hurricane. Emily and her mom were sitting in their basement instead.

“Mom, when is the hurricane coming?” asked Emily.

“I do not know,” answered her mom, “I just know it is coming soon.”

Right as they were talking, the power shut off. The TV turned off and the whole house became dark.

“I’m scared,” said Emily.

“I know you are, but we have to wait out the hurricane.”

Emily’s mom knew this was a great time to try to get rid of Emily’s fear of the dark.

“See, Emily? There is nothing to be afraid of. The dark is not scary at all.” said her mom
“I guess. I’m getting used to it. I just wish I had a night light.”

The whole state was without power for a week. Emily and her mom had to live without light at night for that time, and Emily started to get used to the dark. She was less scared of it every day. By the end of the week without power, Emily did not need a night light.