Welcome In The Dark

20250518

Prompt from DailyPrompt.com

Jim had never been afraid of the dark. To him, darkness was a comforting, protective shroud. It let him vanish.
If people couldn’t see you, they couldn’t point at you. They didn’t know to laugh. Or throw pity.
Who you were in the dark, Jim felt, was who you really were. The you which was left when trying to be you for everyone else didn’t work anymore.
He was so glad that his new friend felt the same.
“Do you really live here? Like, are you always in the basement?”
“Yeah.” The voice was… soft. Wavering. Crumbly. “It’s nice here.”
“It is.” Jim leant his head against the cool plaster and stared into nothing. “…What do you eat, though?”
“Bugs, mostly. All sorts of critters crawl in.”
“Mm.” Jim wrinkled his nose, glad once again that his friend couldn’t see him. “Would you like me to bring you anything?”
“Oh no, it’s fine.”
“Well… tell me if you change your mind.”
They fell into silence. A present, close silence, the silence of someone sitting just out of arms reach in the dark. A silence deepened by a foreign heartbeat your ears can’t quite distinguish from your own.
It was comfortable. Friendly. But in a distant way which didn’t stop you feeling lonely.
Still, it was something, and they both drank it in.
Finally Jim sighed. “I should go. Before people come looking for me.”
“You don’t have to. You can just stay. That’s what I did.”
“What do you mean?”
“I used to hide down here. When it was all too much. Then I realised, what was the point? It always ended up being too much, out there. So I stayed in here. Learned to sip groundwater from the walls and hunt spiders. It all got easy once I figured out how to get into the pipes. There’s plenty of space for two. You’re welcome to stay.”
Jim digested this concept. His head turning unseeing towards the basement door. Towards the noise and bustle and waiting eyes.
It was peaceful down here. Safe.
But…
“I - I’ll come see you again. But I really have to be going.”
“Ok.” The voice was gentle, and pleasant, and eternally patient. “You’re always welcome.”

Prompt was “We all look the same in the dark”.