A pest control device that somehow ended up here?
Or something even more obscure: an object from a toy set, a scientific kit, or a forgotten project that no longer exists in its complete form.
The more I looked at it, the more disturbing it became, simply because I couldn’t place it.
That’s what darkness does, I understood at that moment: it removes context. And without context, even harmless objects can appear strange, even threatening.
I stood up slowly, still holding it, feeling a strange tension settle in my chest. The house around me seemed quieter than before, as if the silence had thickened while my back was turned. I walked carefully down the hallway, one hand outstretched in front of me, the other clutching the strange blue object as if to confirm that I still didn’t understand…
The darkness gave everything a slightly unreal appearance.
Arriving back at my son’s room, I hesitated for a moment on the threshold before entering. He was fast asleep, completely unaware of the power outage, his breathing steady and undisturbed despite the chaos in the house. For a brief moment, I almost felt guilty about waking him, but curiosity had already won out.
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