Casey loved the dark. It was mysterious and fun. Sometimes, before sleeping she would just sit in the dark and sing songs. But nowadays, it scared her. There was a shadow. “Casey, what’s wrong?” her Mom would ask. “Nothing!” Casey would say, putting on a brave smile, “Just a bad dream.” But it felt real. Very, very real! The shadow scared her. It kept coming again and again, so much so that Casey might start hating the dark. She would sleep with the lights on. She was slowly getting dark circles around her eyes due to lack of sleep. But Casey had enough. ‘Tonight,’ Casey thought, ‘is when I figure out what’s happening.’ She decided before going to sleep. Casey woke up with a start at about one in the morning.
The shadow was standing in front of her bed, whispering, “I’m sorry! I didn’t do it, NOOOOOOOOOOO!” It had blood-red eyes, chains on its wrists and ankles, its mouth stuck in a scream of pain. But this time instead of hiding, Casey looked directly at it. “Wh…wh…who are you?” Casey asked, shaking with fear. “I am the SORRY spirit. I come to those who make mistakes and do not say ‘Sorry’ afterwards! Who wishes to go back in time, and change his mistakes to right?” Shaking with fear, Casey hid again under the covers. The monster was not just scary to look at, but its voice was like a spoon scratching against a steel surface. It hurt her ears and made her want to clamp her teeth tightly. Little later, she peeped out from under the covers and it was still standing, staring at her. Casey hid again. But Casey was not the type of the girl to stay scared for very long. She was a brave girl. Slowly, she concentrated on breathing again. Counting to 10…just like Mom had taught her. Casey wondered, ‘Why is the monster here?’ Thinking hard, she tried to remember if she had done something wrong and forgotten to apologise. She came up with a blank. Casey was a very honest girl. She did not like lying. She knew that to hide the first lie; a lot more lies were needed! It was just easier to speak the truth and face the consequences after that. Realising that she was not at all at fault, Casey suddenly was not scared at all. She looked the monster straight in the eye and hit the Sorry Monster hard over the head with a slipper. “Then why are you coming to me? What did I do? Go away!” Casey said. Her honest eyes shone a bright light that reached the shadow, putting it to flames. The shadow was burnt to ashes and disappeared completely.
