Ji Yeon woke up to complete darkness. She didn't know where she was at first. She felt around and landed on something she recognized all to well, her pink glow worm. She pressed it's stomach and it's face lit up. She used it to light her way out of her room and into her parents room. She climbed onto the bed and settled herself in between her parents. Her comfort didn't last long however when she heard her mom turn the lamp on.
"What's wrong?' Mi Sun asked faceing her daughter.
"My room is dark and bad things get you in the dark." Ji Yeon answered.
"Come on." Mi Sun said picking up her daughter and carrying her to her room. She placed Ji Yeon on the bed and went over to the light switch and turned off the light and turned it back on."See there's nothing different when the light is off or on."
"But ghost can get you in the dark." Ji Yeon pouted holding her glow worm close.
"There is no ghost here and you have a nightlight." Mi Sun told her going over to the closet and flipping a small switch on Ji Yeon's Minnie Mouse nightlight only for it to not come on."We'll get a new light bulb tomorrow."
"I don't want to sleep in the dark." Ji Yeon protested."The ghost will get me."
"I'll be right back." Mi Sun promised and left the room. She came back a few minutes later with Cleo. "She'll keep you safe until we fix the nightlight."
Having Cleo with her made Ji Yeon feel better and everyone went back to sleep. The next day they went to the store and replaced the lightbulb in the nightlight. Later that night a storm came throuh knocing out all the power in the city. The storm had woken Ji Yeon up just as the power went out. She wasted no time and grabbed her glow worm using it as a flashlight. She crept out of bed and went in search of Cleo. She searched the living room first but had no luck. Next she looked in Min Jun's room, but she wasn't there either. Ji Yeon was starting to feel tired so gave up searching for Cleo and made her way back to her room holding her glow worm closer as the storm intensified. She climed into bed but stopped halfway when her felt something warm. She jumped back in surprise dropping her glow worm on the floor. There wasn't supposed to be anything warm in her bed. She ran out of the room and straight to her parents.
"There's something in my room." Ji Yeon cried jumping on her parents bed.
"Your turn." Mi Sun said hitting her husband in the chest with the back of her hand.
Jin got out of bed and picked Ji Yeon up, carrying her to her room to see what the problem was.
"It's right there." Ji Yeon pointed to her bed and then covered her eyes.
A bolt of lightning iluminated the room helping Jin to see what was making Ji Yeon so scared."Open your eyes and wait for the lightning." He told her.
Ji Yeon trusted her father completely and did as she was told. If he saw what was on her bed and wasn't scared then it must not be scary. Ji Yeon opened her eyes and a few seconds later lightning lit up the room.
"Cleo!" Ji Yeon exclaimed as she opened her eyes and Jin sat her on the bed.
"Go to sleep." Jin oedered covering his daughter with her blanket and leaving the room.
Jin arrived home sometime after dinner with a bag in his hand. Ji Yeon got up from the couch where she had been watching tv and came over to her father.
"What's that?" She asked pointing the small white bag in Jin's left hand.
"It's a surprise for you." Jin answered and began walking to his daughter's room. Ji Yeon eagerly followed him curious to see what the surprise was. She sat on her bed and opened the bag to find white stars.
"Stars?" Ji Yeon asked looking up from the bad in confusion.
"They're special stars." Jin began to explain."Help me put them on the wall and then you'll see."
Once the stars were on the wall and ceiling Jin turned off the light to reveal the neon green light that the stars gave off in the dark.
"Now you have some light if your nightlight stops working." Jin told her as the two admired the stars.
That night another storm came through once again knocking the electricity out. Ji Yeon woke up feeling a little scared, but then remembered the stars. She felt a little better, but still wanted somebody with her when the thunder boomed. She went in search of Celo, but had no luck finding her. She hadn't seen her all day which wasn't unusual especially on days when she spent most of the day at the hospital. She went back to her room hoping to find her on her bed asleep like ;ast time but was sadly disappointed to find only her stuffed animals. She thought about going into Min Jun's room but he snored making it impossible for her to sleep in the same room as him. She thought about going to her parents but they would just put her back in her bed. So she snuggled up with her glow worm and stared at the stars until she fell asleep.
The next day Tommy and all of his friends were enjoying a fun fall day of playing in the leaves at the park. They stopped playing when they noticed their friend Min Jun sitting on a park bench by himself.
Tommy got out of the leaf pile and walked up to Min Jun."Want to play with us?"
"No thanks." Min Jun answered looking at the ground. He had been quiet all day at pre school and didn't feel much like playing.
"What's wrong?' Chuckie asked coming over and laying a comforting hand on Min Jun's shoulder.
"The dumb storms broked our fence and Cleo got out yeterday when we were gone and she's still not back." Min Jun explained just as a low howl was heard.
"What was that?" Chuckie asked in a shakey voice.
"I don't know. Let's go find out." Tommy said excitedly as the rest of the kids climbed out of the leaf pile.
"I don't know Tommy. That scary sound came from the big kid part of the park.
"I'm not Tommy. I'm Steve and it looks like Five O just got a case." Tommy declared.
Before they could investigate Didi called them all to go back home for lunch.
"We're coming back here for trick or treating soon. We'll figure out what that noise was then. Everybody come dressed as Five O." Tommy instructed as the kids ate their lunch.
"Who can we be?" Lil asked.
"You two can be the dumb people that replaced me and Ji Yeon." Min Jun muttered."And Kimi and Dil can be bad guys."
A few nights later the kids came to the park with their parents dressed as Hawaii Five O characters with Kimi and Dil wearing orange jumpsuits and plastic handcuffs. Tommy wore tan cargo pants with a dark blue button up shirt that was unbuttoned and a white shirt underneath. Chuckie wore a white long sleeved shirt, black pants and a blue tie. Min Jun wore a Hawaiian shirt with jeans. Ji Yeon wore a pink tank top and jeans. Phil wore a camo outfit and Lil wore a red dress. All of them had plastic Five O badges.
They were free to trick or treat around the park by themselves since it was a familiar place. The kids were having fun trick or treating completely forgetting about their mission.
The kids decided to take a break and eat some candy away from prying eyes. They had spotted Angelcia not long ago and wanted to keep their candy for themselves. They were sitting near a cluster of trees when they heard the howl again.
"There's that noise again." Chuckie shuddered hiding behind Tommy.
"I almost forgot. We're sposed to find out what that is." Tommy said dropping his Reptar bar back into his bag. He pulled out a flashlight from one of his many pockets and lead the way to the dark big kid side of the park.
They followed the noise until they came to a cluster of bushes. Tommy knelt down and pointed his flashlight in the direction of the noise.
"Is it a ghost or an alien ghost?" Dil asked.
"I don't know." Tommy answered."I can't see." Tommy attempted to crawl underneath the bush but sharp thorns stopped him.
"What did you see?" Kimi asked.
"Just bushes, but something moved." Tommy told them."The bush is pointy and I'm to big to fit or I'll get all cut up."
"Ji Yeon is the smallest. She can crawl under the bush." Min Jun piped up.
"But it's dark under there." Ji Yeon protested.
"But what if it's Cleo and she needs our help?" Min Jun asked.
"And waht if it's a big scary monster that eats little kids?" Chuckie shuddered.
"No helping." Min Jun snapped.
"I'll go." Dil volunteered. Tommy hadned him his flashlight and Dil knelt down and poked his head into the bush."I see something but I can't go in anymore."
"What did it look like?" Tommy asked.
"It was brown I think, but it moved and the pointy bush things stopped me from going all the way in." Dil explained.
Min Jun turned to his sister."You're the only one that can fit. Just pretend to be Kono. She's brave and wouldn't be afraid to crawl under a bush and find out what was making a weird noise."
Ji Yeon sighed and turned to Tommy, who handed her his flashlight. She bent down and easily made her way under the bush ducking just inches away from the sharp thorns. as she crawled through she noticed the dirt was wet from all the rain. Suddenly whatever was in the bush made a whining noise and began to come closer. Whatever it was didn't get very far. Ji Yeon was greatful and shone the flashlight at the creature hoping to finally figure out what it was. She was relieved when she spotted the pink collar and inched closer for a better look.
"It is Cleo." She called out to her friends who were all crwoded around the bush."Her collar got stuck on a branch."
"Can you get her unstuck?" Min Jun asked.
"I think so." Ji Yeon replied reaching to remove the collar from the branch. As she did so the ground gave way and both the two year old girl and dog fell into a dark hole.
All that was heard outside the bush was a scream making Phil and Lil run for their lives.
"I'll go get your mommy and daddy."Kimi offered running off into the crowded lit area of the park.
Min Jun sat down on the ground feeling guilty. Tommy joined him while Dil went inside the bush as much as he could and called out to his friend recieving no reply.
"I sent her in there." Min Jun sighed."Now she's probably hurt and I'm going to get in trouble."
"You didn't know this was going to happen." Tommy reassured him."Maybe she just can't hear us."
"What happened?" Jin asked pulling Min Jun to his feet.
"We founf Cleo under the bush and something happened and we heard Ji Yeon scream." Min Jun explained with tears in his eyes.
"There's a hole." Dil said popping out of the bush like toast from a toaster."Nobody can go in the bush. It has to many pointy things."
"I need a flshlight." Mi Sun called from the other side of the bush. Dil went over and handed her his flashlight with the pumpkin on top. It was just enough to iluminate a small hole in the ground. Dil leaned over to see, but was pulled back by Mi Sun."We don't need two kids down there. Go wait with your parents." Dil reluctantly did as he was told and wiated with his mom and dad on the other side of the bush.
Jin came over to stand next to his wife."The fire department is on the way."
"Somebody needs to go down there now." Mi Sun stated."Help me."
"We need to wait for the fire department." Jin insisted."You don't know how far down it goes and we don't need anybody else hurt."
"I'll be fine. I'm doing this with or without your help." Mi Sun inssisted.
Jin reluctantly lowered his wife down into the hole, which turned out to be about to be about six feet down.
Once Mi Sun was on her feet she took the pumpkin head off the flashlight and shone it around until she found her daughter laying unconsious on her side with Cleo licking her face attempting to wake her up.
Mi Sun knelt down and assessed Ji Yeon's injuries as best she could in the poor light.
"How is she?" Jin called from above the hole.
"Unconsious but she's alive." Mi Sun answered.
A few seconds later Ji Yeon brgan to stir. Mi Sun pushed Cleo aside and held Ji Yeon's head in her hands to keep her still. Ji Yeon opened her eyes and began crying as pain coursed through her entire body.
"Where does it hurt?" Mi Sun asked as Ji Yeon tried to sit up.
"My head and arm." Ji Yeon answered leaning into her mother. Mi Sun noticed how Ji Yeon's left arm hung limp at her side. She touched it gently and didn't feel break.
"She has a dislocated shoulder and probably a cuncussion." Mi Sun called up.
"The fire department is here. They're going to get you out." Jin replied.
A few minutes later everyone was pulled from the hole and Ji Yeon and Mi Sun were taken to the hospital while Jin and Min Jun took Cleo home and got her cleaned up. Ji Yeon was released from the hospital later that night. She arrived home with a slight concussion and her left arm in a sling.
"I need the nightlight anymore." Ji Yeon said sitting up in bed as Mi Sun went to turn the nightlight on.
"Really?" Mi Sun asked standing back up as lightning lit up the sky and thunder sounded in the distance.
"No. I have my stars and Cleo. The storm makes the lights go off." Ji Yeon asnwered as Cleo jumped on her bed and settled in for the stormy night.
Ji Yeon slept peacefully through the night with the glow in the dark stars overhead and Cleo by her side.
A few days later the kids were playing at the park since the rain had finally moved on and were surprised to see big machines on the other side where bushes and trees once stood.
"I wonder what they're doing." Kimi commented.
"Maybe they're building a runway for the aliems to land on." Dil said excitedly looking up at the clear blue sky.
"I think they're making more play space." Tommy added as he watched a big machine roll concrete.
The kids got their answere a few weeks later when they came to the park and found a concrete slab with basketball hoops.
"Well nobody can fall in a hole and get hurt now." Min Jun commented as he watched some big kids play basketball where the bushes used to be.
The End