Curiously, the fact that the creature of the night was solely an imaginative figure did not hinder the family's concerns. Each night the Willow family would carefully litter their tiny cabin with numerous candles. The parents would read stories to their children that would justify their fears. When the wind blew exceptionally loudly against the walls of the cabin, the parents had described to the children the enormous strength of the creature's mighty blows. When the coyotes howled far in the distance, the logical conclusion was an attack originated from the creature of the night. The family had gone mad long ago with their extreme heights of paranoia. They did not understand the world that existed beyond the seemingly never ending woods. To themselves, this family was the last remaining figures of mankind. And so in their world, they were; they limited their potential by discarding the possibility of separate consciousness. After an alarmingly long time of these false stories passed amongst generation to generation of the Willow's, the only thing that made sense to the family was the hatred casted upon them by the creature of the night. On one very different night after story time, the youngest freckle faced Willow had been visited in his bedroom by what he referred to as a dark figure. This figure spoke to the boy and explained to him how he originated from a vastly different world than his own. The dark figure, according to the child, had chosen not to escape the confinement of the walls. He opted, instead, to remain as a shadow in order to keep the child from becoming unnerved. The child told his family about the figure of the night, but he did not seem to be alarmed by his own sayings. The family had decided that their child had an incredible imagination. It was especially clear to the parents that the boy had crafted some alteration of his own from the story of the creature of the night. Months would pass on by and each night prior to story time the child would explain to his family the many different preachings from the figure of the night. The family remained assured in their beliefs of their child's wild imagination. The father had grown tired of these stories of the figure of the night. He feared that the boy would undermine the teachings concerning the creature of the night. As the boy continued his outlandish tales of this figure, the father became more angry. He asked for the youngest Willow to tell his tales no longer. When the boy attempted to bring up his new encounters of the figure of the night, he was quickly dismissed from story time. After continuous dismissals, the boy had eventually decided it to be best not to speak of the new teachings from the figure of the night. The parents were satisfied with their child's silence. The message revolved around the creature of the night would remain with validity. The child, however, became more uneasy from the figure of the night, whose figure had now extended out into the floor. Despite the increasing fears, the boy decided that being scolded from his parents was more frightening than the figure that he had grown accustomed to. For this reason, the boy had decided to remain silent. The coyotes continued to howl while the family tried to rest easily. All of the Willows had feared the darkness from creeping into their tiny cabin; the youngest Willow was now the exception to this rule. The figure had explained to the boy how the darkness was beneficial and that the family had grown paranoid over their own imaginations. The figure's messages had enlightened the boy; over time the boy had given his trust to his new role model and he even gave a name to his friend. The figure would be known as Shadow. Shadow was no longer trapped by the limitations of the walls and floors. He could now lie beside the boy in his bed. They shared incredible stories of their own after the family's story time. After a year of this friendship, the young Willow had asked Shadow to show himself. Initially, Shadow had resisted this request. He explained to the child why that wasn't a good idea. The child no longer cared. Given time, the boy could hear breathing in his room; it was an odd thing to hear as Shadow never truly breathed when speaking. The trust that the child had placed in Shadow was unmatched, however, and so he decided to ignore this potentially alarming sign. One morning when the boy raised up from his bed, he felt wobbly. His little legs had hit the floor, followed by the rest of his body. He became paralyzed; he could not scream for help and any logical thinking had become nonexistent. The boy closed his eyes hoping that someone would find him lying there. He fell asleep once again. When he finally awoke from the floor, the young Willow had seen that the day had transitioned into nighttime. He opened his bedroom door and creeped into the living room. There, he witnessed his family in the corner having story time once more. They sat in a circle in their typical spots. When he came out to speak with them, they had not acknowledged him. He thought this to be odd, but nonetheless he had positioned himself into his usual seating arrangement. In the middle of the father's recollection of the creature of the night, the boy had decided to speak about his peculiar awakening. The father, however, continued his story as if not recognizing any sound. The boy had realized that his father was repeating a story concerning the creature from long ago. The young Willow had felt an uneasy sense of déjà vu. He attempted to leave from his position at once to find peace in his bedroom. He found, however, that he could not do so. He attempted to raise himself from the family gathering, but his legs refused to respond. As the father continued his repeated story, the boy had noticed that a candle had burned out from within the kitchen. In time, the boy had witnessed near total darkness. The only light received was emitted from the moon through the living room's small window. Despite the preachings from the figure concerning the darkness, the boy felt incredibly uneasy from the near total blackout. To his dismay, the family refused to acknowledge the darkness. The father continued his story until the ending had been reached. Instead of going to bed, however, the family remained in their gathering. They did not say a word and they did not move a muscle. This truth included the boy as well, who had attempted to make some acknowledgement of this odd occurrence. When he realize that verbal communication was also impossible, the boy's heart began to pound. He wondered if the family had been silently frightened as well. Their faces were as cold, lifeless, and dull as his own. The young Willow attempted to at least shift his eyes around; he found that he could do so. He glanced at his sister who had sat beside him. Her eyes were positioned upward. He looked at the rest of his family and noticed that this held true for all of them. The boy decided to look upward as well. He discovered a ceiling encased with familiar red eyes that he had seen on Shadow. The boy's eyes danced around the ceiling searching for Shadow's unique pair of eyes. After time, he had found those familiar eyes that had often watched him while he slept. As time moved on and the eyes slowly faded from the ceiling, the boy realized that he and his family were forever silenced. He discovered that his family was no longer mad.
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