She bolted awake, her heart pounding against her sternum, eyes darting around in search of the monsters in the darkness. When she didn't see any, she yanked the blankets over her head and pinned them down so they couldn't get in, to make herself invisible. Her legs curled up towards her chest when she thought she felt cold on her toes. They weren't going to get her. Daddy said they couldn't get her… She peaked out again, just barely, and caught the pool of silver moonlight on the carpet from the window.
Biting her lip, she debated the merits of leaving the safety of her makeshift bunker, but most of her was sick to death of waking up like this every night, trying to not make a single noise as she waited to fall back asleep. Nighttime was horrible. She deplored the dark and what could be hiding in it. But she was determined she wouldn't be afraid forever. Stealing herself, Claire wrapped the blanket around herself and carefully perched herself in the window seat. Her little hands shook as she yanked the curtains open and her knees were back under her chin as soon as she'd made herself comfortable, but she wasn't going to live like this anymore. Stars winked at her, all but the strongest obscured by the city's lights, and she focused on those pinpoints, and the soft golden splashes from the streetlights on the sidewalk. A cat sauntered past, and she thought of it all alone in the darkness, like her.
Determinedly, she stared at the blue-black sky, willing the sun to come back, ordering it. It couldn't just leave her like this, all alone and afraid. Hours passed and her eyelids grew sticky when she blinked, her eyes burning with exhaustion. A handful of times, she snapped her head up when gravity pulled it down towards her chest, but eventually her grip on the blanket loosened and her legs stretched out. Still, she glared at the sky, giving the delinquent sun that frightening glare her mother always used when she was unhappy with her. She focused all her energy on dragging the bright orb back above the horizon and into the sky. The sun had to come back up; it just had to… Vaguely, she registered a shock of cold against her temple as her head lulled against the window, and in her dream, she saw the brilliant golden light from behind her eyelids…
He smiled softly at the sight of his little girl curled up in the window seat with her blanket. She hated the dark, but she'd been too stubborn to come into their room since she was four. Apparently, even his little six-year-old had her pride. As he scooped her up in his arms and held her warm little body against his chest, he thought of all those terrifying child's nightmares, and wondered how long it would be until she outgrew them, until the world no longer seemed so scary. He kissed her on her cheek, then her button nose, and she pulled the blankets up past her chin in her sleep.
"Goodnight, baby girl," he whispered, and a smile turned his daughter's mouth.
When she opened her eyes again, she was tucked back in her deliciously soft, warm bed… And the sun was pouring through her window, warming her face to say hello. Smiling to herself, Claire giggled in delight. It had worked! The sun had come back up just for her. Until the nightmares waned and she didn't have to hide from night monsters anymore, she would climb into the window seat every night, willing with all her might for the sun to come back, and every morning, she opened her eyes to find it had obeyed her.
Claire had just learned she could do anything, even control the stars.