[Author's Note: Just letting everyone know this used to be called "That Halloween Feeling" The title was changed since I decided to turn this into a full story. Only made a short update this time. Still working on where I want this to go. Thanks for all the feedback.]

The bedroom was quiet, save for the soft whimpering coming from under the tented blanket where Fear was huddled. Beneath the thick comforter, hidden from plotting teammates and other frightening forces, he began to feel his heartbeat calm and his breathing steady. He clutched his teddy bear to his chest, the fur on its ears worn off from years of worried rubbing, but his fingers paid no mind and they practiced the habit while he tried to reclaim his composure. The freshness of the horrors that had overwhelmed him in Headquarters faded from his mind like a tide ebbing out, but now he was left with a beach of regrets to ponder.

He had, as he predicted, failed to not overreact to Joy's attempted preview of the house of horrors that Riley would be going to Saturday, which would undoubtedly be ten times more frightening than anything his coworkers could cook up in their imaginations. Dread tightened inside him as he anticipated that impending disaster.

On top of that, he had frightened Riley for what was ultimately no good reason. His involuntary reaction to Anger's prank had disturbed her, reawakened the horrid thoughts associated with the walking dead coming for her, even if those thoughts were as fictional as the movie that had inspired them. Sure, he could have blamed Anger for recalling the memory, but really he could only blame himself for how he'd reacted. To that and everything before it.

The humiliation burned in his chest, working its way up his throat to his cheeks and behind his eyes.

While he knew he needed to go back out there, resume his duties, it was too soon to be sure what they thought of him now. He wasn't yet ready to face Disgust's judgment, Joy's disappointment, Sadness's pity, and whatever mockery Anger most likely had in store once he was freed from time-out. Riley still had some time before the end of study period, she'd be okay without him until then, he decided. It was best to give himself some time to settle down and gather his thoughts.

To help calm down, distract his mind from his lurking worries, he turned to the light source illuminating his makeshift hiding spot.

He knew he'd get into trouble if anyone knew he had it, but he justified its possession by also knowing there were dozens just like it down in long term, many of which had probably been discarded and forgotten for being redundancies.

The memory was yellow, faded from age but still bright enough to light the small space. Riley, here a toddler, begging Mom to "please, read it again." Their girl had just discovered Good Night Moon at the library and had become obsessed with it. Every night for nearly two months she had gotten Mom or Dad to read it to her ad nauseam and, even at bedtime, she was rarely satisfied with a single performance.

"Please, please. Just one more time?" The remembered Riley pleaded.

"And then you promise you'll go to bed?" Mom had asked.

"Promise." Little Riley had agreed.

Mom opened the book a second time and began reading,

"In the great green room there was a telephone, and a red balloon, and a picture of the cow jumping over the moon…"

Her voice was soft and melodic, filled with love and patience. It was exactly the kind of comfort he had been craving. He held his teddy bear close with one arm, the other around the memory nested in his lap. Mom's voice filled his safety bubble beneath the blanket where, for the moment, all external worlds faded away. With the regular tempo of Mom's reading, he began to feel drowsy. He hadn't been sleeping well in the nights since Riley had watched that zombie movie, and Sadness had been right about all that running around being scared out of his wits all day being exhausting. Before he was aware of it, he had nodded off, Mom's reading coming to a close,

"Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere…"

[To be continued]