The world was beginning to fall asleep when she awoke. She rubbed her tired little eyes, her eyelashes fluttering as she opened them, her first sight was of a starlit night. The land beneath her was littered with little lights and glittery white landscapes enclosed them, sparkling in the glow of the benevolent moon. She was high enough to reach out and touch the twinkling stars. She was high enough to have the most beautiful view of… She didn't know. In fact, she had no idea where she was, or who she was? A frown creased her pale porcelain skin as she soon began to question herself. At the time of her ponder, she began to fall, and the land beneath her was getting closer. And closer. Her body began to spark a white glow, encasing her slim form and leaving a glittery light trail behind her. The land was getting larger, getting closer. The howl of the wind rushed passed her pointed and petite ears, evaporating the peace she awoke to. Fear began to consume her as she tightly shut her eyes, hugged her body and waited for impact.

The howling stopped.

She ceased her tight fingers, gripping her skinny, silk covered arms and built up the courage to lift her head and re-open her beautiful kaleidoscope eyes. The glittery white powder she saw from above was now inches from her face. Her body lay afloat from the ground, at least a ruler's length away. Her torso began to lift and move back, allowing her to hover in an up-right position, before her bare toes touched the coldness, her feet sinking through the powder ever-so-slightly and sending a shiver up her spine. It took a moment to get comfortable in the new standing position, until then, she began to familiarise herself with her appearance.

Her blouse was of a delicate white silk, long sleeved, falling over her small thin hands, and cutting above her naval, to reveal a silvery-white abstract star tattoo around her belly button. Midnight blue, tight-fitting trousers hugged her long legs, slightly ruffled at the bottom to suggest they were slightly too long. She reached her arms up to brush her fingers through her hair. A choppy and uneven pixie cut with chest long swept bangs.

Rolling up her sleeves to reveal her wrists, were two silver bands, both engraved with the same star pattern as her tattoo. She brushed her finger over the right one and the star began to glow. The light separated from the band and began to grow long and thin. The light solidified and was now a solid silver spear, with a sharp star point tip. It was unexpectedly light in her grip. She began to inspect the spear with great curiosity, smiling like a cheshire cat. She brushed her finger over the silver band again, and the spear retracted back into light, and into the band. Moving to the left wrist, she touched the other bracelet and light burst open, in a wider, flatter shape. It solidified into a strong silver shield, again with the same beautiful star pattern engraved on the outer side. She returned the shield back into the bracelet.

Giddy and excited, she became curious of her surroundings and began to twirl on her toes, taking a look at the cosy town she had landed in. Behind her stood a huge bronze statue of a man holding his wife in the one arm, the wife holding her daughter close to her, and a boy knelt behind, holding a rifle in his hands. Around the statue, one half was littered with trees and on the other, buildings. She began to walk, her legs wobbling, like a child taking their first steps. Realising the difficulty, she let herself take afloat, and began to explore whilst hovering a few inches above the ground.

After a few hours of wandering, she sat down on the roof of a house, staring up at the moon and the stars. She was so confused. Who was she and why was she here? Those same questions swam through her mind, scaring her, causing a small tear to stray from her eye. Before she could break out into a sob, she heard the faint whimper of a young voice. Her pointy ear perked and she turned, crawling down the roof to hang upside down outside an open window. A child lay sleeping in bed, a boy. His walls littered with posters and coloured drawings of unusual creatures, one a large colourful bird with insect wings, and another, a huge grey rabbit, holding what looked like a colourful egg. Toys were scattered across the floor, books clumsily piled on shelves and a mobile of planets hanging over a desk covered with what appeared to be school text books.

She turned herself up right and pushed the window open so she could slip into the room. She hovered around the side of the bed, to where the child was facing. His face was contorted in what looked like pain, or was it fear. She knelt down to take a closer look at the boy. Short brown locks brushed over his eyes, hands fisted around his quilt. She could not understand why he was like this, but she felt like she needed to do something. She shyly brought her hand to his face and brushed her fingers through his hair to move it away from his eyes. Where her hands had touched, a white glow sketched over his forehead. She withdrew quickly out of fear that she may have hurt him, but instead, the white glow dissolved and the boy's face quickly melted into a small smile.

She stared in confusion as the boy continued to sleep, but now, more soundly. She looked down to her hands and smiled. She raced out of the window and flew around town, peering through windows, as people slept. A young girl was tossing and turning in her pink flowery bed in a nearby apartment. The young girl had already kicked off her quilt and it lie in a knotted lump on the floor. The glowing girl wanted to go in and help, however she faced an issue, the window was shut and locked, there was no way in.

Frowning, she went to place her hand on the glass, hoping it would disappear and let her through; the glass did not disappear, but her hand went straight through. Again, she retracted her hand, not expecting something so ghostly, but she proceeded forward and let herself faze through the glass. She hovered into the girl's bedroom, now hearing her whimpers in fear. She moved over to the girl's bed and found something strange. What appeared like black sand was swirling around the child's head, horrible images of the girl being chased by creatures appeared in the sand, making her squirm more in her sleep. The glowing girl frowned at the dark sand and poked it with her finger, as a silent gesture to say 'stop it'. The darkness evaporated and turned into a white glow, moving down to the child's forehead and disappearing. The child's face calmed and a smile appeared before she turned onto her side and fell fast asleep. Smiling down at her, she untangled the quilt, placed it over the sleeping child and jumped back out of the window.

For hours, the glowing girl moved from house to house, room to room, changing sleepless nights into silently snoozes, smiling as her flying began to improve significantly. Now, twirling, summersaulting, and gliding through the gentle breeze. After visiting every home in the sleepy town, she sat in the arm on the town's statue and watched the sun rise beyond the pink and orange marble skyline. She sat there and watched the town slowly come to life, people leaving their homes to go to work, children coming out to play in the winter wonderland. She couldn't help but smile at it all, but for some reason, she now felt out of place, like she didn't belong in the light of day. She stood on the statue and began to descend into the sky, traveling forward until she fell into the night.

She found herself in a new sleepy town. The feeling of belonging returned and she flew around the town, proceeding to help those who struggled to sleep with either nightmares taunting them, or not being able to keep their eyes closed. The town was so small and her job had finished so quickly, so she decided to take a small break and look up into the night sky and loose herself in its beauty. She looked to the moon and spoke for the first time, "Who am I?" Her voice was sweet like honey, it was an accent she could not decipher but it was clear and simple, something she liked. After a long silence, she sighed and stood on the roof she sat on turning to leave. But then she heard the voice.

"The Night Guard."

She turned in shock, staring wide eyed at the moon. She smiled, laughed, and then flew into the sky, gliding to the next town, and the next town, and the next town.

I've never known where I came from, I've never known my true name, but what I do know, is that I am free to create my own destiny. I've chosen who I will be, I've chosen what I will do, and I've chosen to help the people of the world sleep soundly and protect them from the darkness of the night. A part of me wonders if I will ever know who I truly am, but for now, I like what I've become, and I've chosen to keep it that way. I am The Night Guard, and I will protect while you sleep.