When I was younger, I used to check the locks on the doors 1,001 times

and peek out the window to make sure no one was standing outside with an ax.

When I was younger, I used to use the light of my cellphone to illuminate my room

to check for monsters and creeping shadows.

I'd leave the hallway light on, just in case.

I left my door cracked open, just in case.

But as I got older,

I stopped checking the locks.

I started sleeping in pitch black.

With age, my fears began to take on new life;

the terrifying strangers I had feared to be right outside my door 

Now stalked me in plain sight.

College paper work and and job applications being the weapon of choice.

The monsters under my bed now reside in the dark crevices of my mind,

thoughts of the unclear future making me wish for a time where a night light could be of use.