Shadows of trust: a father's tale

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In the calm of the night, the moon cast its faint glow on Lyka through the curtains of her room. Lyka's peaceful slumber took a sharp dark turn. In her sleep, she could feel shadows dance and whisper in the corners of her room, strange laughs echoing from the shadows.

Her sleep was shattered by a spine-tingling scream. Lyka jolted up as her eyes snapped open and sat bolt upright. "Mommy!Mommy!" Lyka cried out with a voice trembling with fear.

Mr. and Mrs. Simpson dashed into her room, lily rushed and hugged Lyka whose chest rose and fell rapidly with each panicked breath, with beads of sweat reflecting the light from the moon on her forehead. John was holding a bat in his hand firmly and ready to engage any threat to his family.
"What is it my dear" Lily asked Lyka while John cross-checked the room.

"It was another nightmare," Lyka said as she hugged her mother so tight. John stopped cross-checking when he was now sure that there were no intruders.
"Nightmares again, okay I will stay with you tonight," Lily said as she tucked herself in the bed with Lyka.
"Sleep tight my candy, Mummy is here and Daddy will protect you," John said as he kissed Lyka on her forehead reassuring her of her safety. John went back to his room and the rest of the night was peaceful for everyone.

The next day lyka was up and vibrant, she had a good night's sleep after she was joined by her mom. Lyka was dropped at school by Lily, and Lily returned home. John was the CEO of a digital security company while Lily worked from home as a real estate agent.

Lily met John as he was dressed to go to work and had just finished taking his morning coffee.
"You haven't gone yet," Lily said as she kept the car keys on the key holder.
"Yeah, I am done and will be going now," John said as he trashed the coffee cup.
Lily walked to John and started helping him adjust his tie, John knew she was about to bring up something, he knew it as her signature move whenever she was worried.
"Honey, about Lily I have been wondering,"
John smiled as he knew he knew already what was coming before it even came, "what about her?"
"Well, I think we should take her to see a child therapist," Lily answered.
John gave her a funny look and then burst into an uncontrollable laugh.
"I am serious," Lily said as she made a serious look and glared at him to show that she was serious, "we need to do something about it,"
"Don't worry, she sleeps well when she is with you. She is just a kid, it is normal for her to be afraid of being alone in the dark," John said as he giggled.
He kissed her goodbye and said as he walked out, "Don't worry baby, I have an idea and if it doesn't work then we will do it your way.... I promise, " his voice faded as he closed the door behind him.

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That night John came back home with a book and a pendant he bought.
When Lily saw it she asked what was it for and he said it was for Lyla. That night he went to Lyka's room and read her the story from the book. The story was about a little boy who was the young protector of the dream realm and protected little children from the demons known as nightmares using a dreamcatcher given to him by his mother.

Lyka slumped against the pillow and let out a yawn, her eyelids heavy with exhaustion after intense listening to the captivating night story. "Dad, will Mom come to stay with me tonight?" She asked as she was scared.
"Don't worry, I have something for you," John took the necklace with a pendant out of his pocket and showed it to Lyka.
"This here is a real dreamcatcher, it was given to me by my ancestors," John lied to make the story more believable.
"Woah," Lyka marveled at the necklace. She had already begun to believe her dad. She trusted him so it wasn't even hard.
"Here, when I put it under your bed, it will catch and destroy any nightmare that comes into this room tonight," John said as he placed the necklace under her bed leaving it hanging from the bed.
"When you wake up tomorrow morning, you take it from under your bed and then return it to me," he said as he kissed her goodnight.
"Thanks, Daddy, Goodnight," an already sleeping Lyka whispered.

John returned to his room to his wife and she asked him what had happened when he stopped her from going to sleep with Lyka. He told her he had told Lyka a story about dreamcatchers and lied to her that the necklace he bought was a dreamcatcher. They both laughed at it and went to sleep.

To their surprise, Lyka slept peacefully throughout the night. The next morning they decided to let her wake up by herself and when she woke up she was so happy and ran to their room telling them how sound she slept and returned the necklace.

The following night John did the same thing but this time he pretended to put the necklace under her bed. The next morning Lyka woke up and was happy until she found out that the dreamcatcher was nowhere to be found, she searched everywhere but still didn't find it. When she went to her dad he told her that he didn't put it under the bed.
"Why?" Lyka asked in so much confusion.
"Well, you are strong enough and don't need the dreamcatcher to fight nightmares," John said.
"But how did you know?"
"Because our ancestors said you just have to think good thoughts before you sleep, and always remember you are safe with us," John lied again.
And Lyka who trusted her father the most believed everything he said.

That night she had a sound sleep and was very happy. From that day on, Lyka overcame her problem of being scared at night and having nightmares. She never again asked for her mom to sleep in her room or to sleep with the phony dreamcatcher under her bed.

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