Night Fright
It was a dark and stormy night in the small town of Gravity Falls. In the smallest room of a cabin house on the most northern edge of the town, Annabelle Pines couldn't sleep. The problem wasn't that she wasn't tired enough; it was well past midnight, a time she wasn't used to. It was that she felt scared and alone. Suddenly a strike of lightning struck, illuminating the pitch black room up as quickly as it's roaring boom came and went.
"Daddy!" She yelled. "Daddy!"
And just as her yells ended, the room returned to being covered in a veil of darkness akin to a cave. Not a minute passed before the door opened and a figure appeared from the other side.
"Honey?" the figure said.
"Daddy?" Annabelle asked.
"Do I sound like Dip?" she said. "It's Mommy."
"Where's Daddy?" Annabelle asked. "Daddy knows how to make me feel less scared during these storms."
"Daddy's on one of his work trips again, remember sweetie?" She said. "He can't be here right now."
Annabelle shivered even more as her mother said those words. Another crackle of lightning struck shortly after, although not as brightly as the earlier one.
"I-it-it's so d-d-dark and sc-scary." the little one said through her shaking and shivering. "D-Dad-Daddy."
Suddenly, but ever so quietly, a shining light filled the room up. Gone was the darkness that encouraged capitulation but a glimmer of light that kept a ray of hope lit up.
"Is that better honey?" Her Mother asked, her long red hair and the rest of her finally visible to Annabelle.
"Yes…" the little one replied. "Will Daddy be home tomorrow?"
"Daddy will be home in a few days, remember?" Her Mother responded. "We can try calling him tomorrow, but if not he'll be back on Saturday."
"Ok." Annabelle said, sadness still evident in her voice. "I just haven't not seen him for so long before now. It's not normal."
Wendy put arm around her daughter. "It's ok, you'll get used to it in time. Daddy loves you, but he can't be everywhere at once and please everyone at once and that's with everyone, not just him."
"Ok mommy, if you say so..." Annabelle said as her mother left the room.
Although she still felt sad that her dad wasn't there right then, she was able to relax and fall asleep knowing that it was just one night and he would be back soon enough.