May 17th, 1982:

I looked out onto the dark night sky. The stars where out; but something was wrong with them. They were dark. That's the only good I remember from that night; the rest of it other than the bad, was a blur. I was lying in bed listening to the fan on my ceiling move and watching it spin. My brother Mikey was in my parent's room. He was almost 2 and I was 5.

I closed my eyes finally, getting tired, letting my dreams settle and bloom. When I was almost asleep a noise hits my ears. Not that normal in my small little house to hear that loud of a noise, unless someone was yelling. Guess, that explained why it was yelling.

My Mother and Father didn't get along that well when I was that age. I was 5, I thought it was normal…but it wasn't normal; not even close. Most nights I would stay in bed and wait for it to stop; it always did. But that night it lasted awhile, and got louder.

I decided to get out of my bed and look. The house was only a 1 story home. We were poor with my parents jobs but, again, I was 5…it was normal. The noises where coming from the kitchen and got louder as I walked closer; making it to the corner of the room looking in.

My bare feet didn't make a noise going in the room and I wasn't seen behind the kitchen table. I could hear my parents yell more, saying words they told me not to say.

"Fucking hell Donna, how do you lose your job in 2 days?"

"Maybe cause you kept me up all night you fucking man whore!"

"Come on, you wanted it."

"Fuck you Donald."

"What did you say?"

"FUCK YOU DONALD!"

I heard a loud thump and then silence. My Mom was on the floor and had spotted me. My eyes might have been teary, I didn't remember. Everything was blurry though and so silent you could hear the sticks fall and move outside.

I ran back to bed, shutting my door hitting the wall louder than expected. My breathing was heavy and all saw was darkness. I was hiding under the covers. That wasn't my parents; that was a monster fighting my mom.

The sheets on my bed became lighter with squeaking noise coming from my door. Was the monster in my room; I thought. My thought was cancelled by the caring voice of my mother. "Gerard. Gerard honey, come look at me, it's okay."

I peeked out my eyes out onto the dark gaze of my room seeing my mother look at me with a worried look. Apparently my eyes were wet because she touched my cheek wiping a tear off it. My full head was out of the cover; I could see everything. My Dad's body was outside the door, making me go back into my shell, hiding from danger.

My shield was lifted up by my mother's hand and I screamed into her. "No, mommy no, the monster will get me!" My head was into her, making her hold me tight. "Gerard look, the monster's gone."

I slowly pecked my eyes out looking at the door. It was half way closed with no one there. She held me tight and put me in her lap. I let my head fall into her again leaving a path of spots where my eyes had been. She gave me gentle pats on the back and rubbed it slightly. "Can you look at me honey?" She asked in a whisper. My eyes darted up to her warm fitting eye.

"As long as I'm here, the monster will never hurt you, Gerard. I promise." I nodded a she wiped my eyes again getting my back to bed. "I'll always be here to protect you, honey. Okay?"

"Yes mommy." I replied in a whisper and got comfy in bed. She tucked me in and kissed my head, smiling. I watched my mother leave, shutting my door completely; making start watching my fan in silence again. My parents were talking outside my door, not the monster and my Mom; My Mom and Dad where talking.

"If you hadn't got me fucking pregnant twice, I'd be divorcing your ass right now."

"If we weren't near a 5 year olds room, I'd not be talking right now."

"I'm going to bed, sleep on the damn couch you fucking whore."

A door shut and silence came again. I got out my sketchpad from my bedside table, looking at my old drawings that I had done in times like this. I got out a pencil hoping no one would come in seeing me draw.

I drew on bad days. At that time it was stick figures but I loved drawing. I drew the monster at my door with my mother stopping it from coming in. I was hugging her tight. She was my super hero in this story. She'd always be here for me and my brother. The monster would never ever get us with her there, I thought.

My drawing was done after a couple of minutes. I tucked it back into my bedside table and watched the fan spin once again. The clock said it 12:06 at night. It didn't matter to me, my superhero was with me. She always was. Finally I closed my eyes to dream of my fairy tale of wonder. The day was dark and scary maybe, but when I looked at it differently the stars where bright again; at least for now.