There are times in every person’s life when the silence within begins to scare them. Even in a crowded gathering, they feel alone. Even in the presence of friends, they feel lonely.

They are unable to explain their condition to anyone. A similar state affects me too, which I will try to describe here.

I have been very afraid of the dark since childhood and, perhaps, I still am. It feels impossible for me to go into a dark room alone. In darkness, horrifying shapes seem to form and stare at me, frightening me out of my wits. Even when I know that there is nothing out there but my imagination, what can I do? I can’t seem to stop myself from becoming afraid.

Sometimes, while sitting, I get lost in my thoughts — like being in a dense forest where there is a terrible silence, and from afar, you can even hear the wind as if something is speaking. I am tired of the silence within me, and the fear of the dark.

One day, I sat in a dark room and tried to look into the darkness, hoping to overcome my fear. After a while, a wave of anxiety came over me. But still, I did not give up and ignored my mind telling me that there was someone sitting on the chair across the room.

Then suddenly, the light went out, and the whole house was plunged into deep darkness. Whatever little courage I had left also vanished, and I screamed. As I tried to run out of the room, I bumped into something and fell. Thankfully, my mother rushed to find me on hearing my scream, and I hugged her tight.

Just then, the electricity returned. My mother got up to turn on the light bulb, and I breathed a sigh of relief as the dreadful darkness disappeared. Then it dawned on me that I had been afraid of things I had imagined — what I had thought to be someone sitting on the chair was nothing more than a pile of washed clothes. My mind had conjured up horrific images because of the darkness. The fear I felt was the result of my perception, and nothing more.

Suddenly, I began laughing at myself. How foolish I had been! I realised that darkness is not always frightening. Sometimes the darkness is very deep. It can also be fascinating rather than frightening. Perhaps we ourselves do not understand the secrets it holds. The darkness of the night whispers to us. The wind, the rustling of the leaves, sometimes urges us to listen, rather than be afraid. It depends on us whether we choose to listen to the whispers of the darkness or let it scare us.

I have now learnt that real fear is not of the darkness outside, but it lurks inside us, which leads us to fear what is outside. Now, I am no longer afraid of the darkness — I try to listen to its whispers, because the darkness speaks.

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 26th, 2025