It was a question of courage
(our flashlights blazing under the blanket
in the scary, pure black night of the
tree house).
My sister and I took turns reading
out loud from a Stephen King novel,
accentuating, enunciating, expanding
the particularly frightening parts…
all the while, every sound and shadow,
a confirmation of creatures inching
toward us.
Acorns dropped to the ground and branches
creaked in the wind,
(ravenous wolves, stampeding rhinos,
angry bears)
and we kept them at bay with our screaming
giggles.