Once there was a little boy by the name of Eric. Eric was just around the age of five when he started to have very scary dreams. To keep the bad dreams away, Eric’s mother would read him a story before he went to sleep. And slowly, ever so slowly, the bad dreams went away.
But one night, about a year later, Eric’s mother decided to go on a date. She told Eric not to worry, but Eric only stomped his feet and sulked in his room, glaring at his Legos.
“I’ve hired a babysitter,” Eric’s mother told him from the bathroom, “She’s very nice.”
“Great,” Eric said, rolling his eyes.
Eric’s mother came into his room as she put in her earrings.
“Eric,” she said, “I promise you’ll like her. She plays with Legos.”
Eric flicked one of his Lego men across the room without looking up.
“Great,” he said again.
Then the doorbell rang and Eric’s mother left to answer it.
“Hey Ms. Bright, sorry I’m late,” came a teenage girl’s voice.
“No worries,” said Eric’s mother.
Then Eric’s mother came into his room and introduced him to Alex, the babysitter. But to Eric’s surprise, Alex was actually nice. More than nice, she was cheerful, and energetic, and she really did like Legos. It wasn’t long before Alex and Eric were playing Legos on the floor of his room.
Eric’s mother said goodbye, kissing him on the cheek before leaving. But Eric forgot all about being sad. He and Alex played Legos and Dinosaurs for what seemed like hours. Then they each had a bowl of ice cream while they watched the sunset in Eric's backyard. Eventually it was time for Eric to go to bed.
Even getting ready for bed was fun with Alex. She turned it into a game. Who could brush their teeth the cleanest? Who could tell the better story? Who could imagine the better dream?
Then the Alex said goodnight. The light CLICKED! Off, and Eric lay in his bed. That was when he remembered that his mom wasn’t around and he wondered where she was. Soon Eric fell into a restless sleep and scary dreams.
Suddenly Eric was standing on a dark lawn. Black storm clouds burst with lightning above him. The wind howled in his ears. There was a big, red and yellow circus tent in front of him. It sheets flapped in the wind, but the tent wouldn't budge. It looked safe and bright in the storm, so Eric went in to take cover.
But inside it was dark and the howling of the wind sounded even scarier through the tent's sheet walls. Eric took another step inside and stopped. Something else also took a step. He took another step, and something else did as well. And another, and another, and another, until a great, dark, blue bear was right in front of Eric! Eric yelled and screamed, but all the same the bear gobbled him up.
Eric woke up crying. Alex heard his crying and came to see what was wrong.
"I dreamt about a bear in a tent in a storm," said Eric, wiping snot on his hand.
Alex gave him a big, warm hug.
"Well, I kicked all the bears out of this house, so don't you worry," Alex said. She told him about her silliest dream. She was a banana superhero that saved monkeys. Eventually she asked Eric, "You think you can go back to sleep?"
"What if the bear is there?" Eric asked.
"Well, is the bear in the tent?"
Eric nodded.
"Then, don't go in the tent," said Alex.
Eric said okay, and Alex gave him another hug before tucking him in for the second time that night.
No sooner was Eric asleep than he found himself once again on the lawn, next to the tent, and in that mighty storm. The wind still HOWLED and the lightning still CRACKED, but Eric thought he could just hear the growling of a bear inside the tent.
"I won't go in," Eric shouted at the sky.
At that instant lightning struck very close, and with a jump and a holler Eric found himself inside the tent. In seconds the blue bear was roaring and running at him. Eric awoke with a start and called for Alex.
Alex came in and comforted him.
"I'm not going to sleep until mom gets home," Eric said, and crossed his arms defiantly.
"Oh you won't, eh?" Alex said. "She's not getting home for a whole two hours still. You think you can last that long."
Eric knew that he could not.
"Yeah, I can," he said all the same. "I once stayed up for a whole week."
Alex laughed.
"Well, if you're going to stay up, you have to stay in your bed. You can read if you want, but you have to stay right here. Is that fair?"
Eric nodded, but then asked, "What if I, for some reason, fall asleep—not that I will; but what if? And what if the storm and the tent and the bear are there?"
Alex thought about this.
"It seems to me you need something to take into the tent to keep you safe," said Alex. "That way you can tell the bear to stop gobbling you up and behave."
"Like what?"
Alex snapped her fingers.
"Like a light," she said.
"But how do I bring a light with me?"
“Just have faith that you have the light."
Eric thought about this. Then he asked, "What is faith?"
"Imagine—just pretend that you have the light, and you will,” said Alex. “That’s faith.”
"That’s all?" asked Eric.
"That’s all,” answered Alex.
For the third time that night Eric went to sleep. Immediately he was in the open field with the thunder and lightning above him. The storm was FIERCER than ever. The LIGHTNING CRACKED AND WHIPPED across the sky, and the THUNDER BOOMED AND BLASTED in the air. Eric tried to imagine he had a light. But the storm was so distracting.
Eric shut his eyes, and that’s when something very, very interesting happened. Everything was silent. No wind. No lightning. No bear.
Then Eric imagined the sun, with red and orange flames around it like the mane of a lion. Eric imagined it was small enough to hold in the palm of his hand, and it was. Eric place the sun in a flashlight and it shone out in mighty beams. Then Eric opened his eyes. The thunder and lightning started immediately. But looking at his hand, Eric discovered that he held the flashlight.
He shone the light into the stormy clouds, and wherever the beam went the clouds disappeared. Magnificent stars shone beneath the parted storm. Then Eric found the moon and it winked at him.
Eric turned and walked up the path toward the tent. Something like a whisper rushed through the grass. Eric shone his light into the grass, and there he saw a woman made out of leaves in a small whirlwind. She was the earth.
She smiled at him.
Eric pulled open the flap of the tent. Somewhere in the dark was the murmur of a growl. Eric took a deep breath and went in.
Inside the tent, Eric searched for the bear. Each time Eric tried to shine his light at the bear it escaped into another shadow. But it was getting closer, its steps growing louder, and its growl more menacing. It was getting closer, and closer and closer. Finally, Eric did the only thing he could. He closed his eyes and pulled the sun out of the flashlight.
When Eric opened his eyes, he found the entire tent as bright as day with the sun in his hand. Eric held the sun into the air. The bear howled and screamed as it blew away like sand!
When the bear was gone, Eric noticed a small newt made of blue flame sitting where the bear had been.
“What are you?” Eric asked the newt.
The newt sniffled. It was crying.
“You’ve scared me a lot,” said Eric
“Isn’t that what you wanted?” asked the newt, looking down ashamed. “I mean, me being your imagination and all, I just was doing what I thought you wanted.”
“Well, I don’t,” Eric said sharply, “and you can get lost.”
The newt winced. Tears watered its eyes and it began to cry.
“I’m sorry,” said the newt.
In that moment, Eric felt bad for the newt. It had made a mistake, but this was Eric’s dream. This newt was his.
“Here,” Eric said, crouching next to the newt and holding the sun up to it. “I forgive you.”
Eric broke off a piece of the sun and handed it to the newt. The newt took the piece and ate it. A bit of dark green rippled through the newt. It grew a little. Then there was a ripple of lighter and then even lighter green. The newt grew a little, and a little more. Soon the newt was as big as Eric and rippling with color of the rainbow. It bowed its head and Eric climbed on. The flames weren’t flames at all! It was soft, flowing fur.
Eric rode the newt onto the lawn, carrying the sun in his hands.
“What shall we do now?” asked Earth.
“Yes,” said the Moon, “We have the rest of the night.”
Eric looked at the flowing fields of his dream, with the forests and mountains beyond them. He smiled and threw the sun into the sky, and as he did a great city of multicolored blocks formed on the horizon, illuminated by the rising sun.
“Do you like legos?” Eric asked.
