T

HIS WAS THE THIRD TIME . It blobs into the dimension medusa–like, not as amorphous, but still black as a clouded new moon .

  Anne knows this time she will not just think it away like before . The ooze strengthens with each incarnation . She senses determination, consciousness—before there was only unfocused malevolence .

  Anne assumes a stance of power, asserts, “ I’m not afraid of you, ” as the convolving tentacles fire. It snatches the child into its darkness .

  Years pass .

  Anne, amnesic, steps from the nor’easter blizzard shadows onto her moonlit yard . Home . Anne’s mind, now, has become the stronger of the two .

A

NNE DOES NOT RECALL ESCAPING the inconstant mass, a visible darkness connected to original Chaos . Notwithstanding amnesia, she feels a general uneasiness .

  Still, being Anne requires great resolve ; she will never be a little girl again . However, the name is all she remembers .

  Later though, she dreams of being hunted by something tearing through the night, unholy . It works quickly breaking through the barricades of her mind for entry, finally getting through . A single tear is all Anne has time for .

  Anne, inside the murkiness that disdains other agencies, locks hers away, the last vestige against the tightening dark arms .

B

UT THAT’S ALL OVER .

  A teenager in high school, Anne puts the lost time behind her, presses on, despite the occasional nightmares ; gets a boyfriend, social network, after–school activities .

  [ Thirty-nine lunar months ]

  The tentacles of darkness reappear with a vengeance, worldwide—the sun struggles to make day known . Anne surges with a feeling of oneness with the world .

  The showdown :

  The fight is apocalyptic­—a real Revelations light show . Earth is saved . The darkness is plunged back into the Chaos manifold . Anne stops glowing .

  Later, Anne muses why the monster wanted out of the Night–Time in the first place .