Matt hummed softly as he walked down the long hallway, carrying his precious bundle so carefully. Halfway down the hall a door stood open and inside was a bedroom done up in soft warm colors, reds and browns and golds with an occasional touch of blue to offset it. He moved towards the bed which was already turn down, the quilt showing a starburst pattern on it.
Once his little bundle was placed in the bed and tucked in he sat on the edge of the bed and ran a hand through the child’s hair and his humming continued and moved into words.
Little child, be not afraid The rain pounds harsh against the glass Like an unwanted stranger There is no danger I am here tonightThe little girl in front of him smiled and rolled over so that she could peek up at him through her eye lashes, humming along with his little lullaby.
Little child, be not afraid The thunder explodes And lightning flash Illuminates your tear-stained face I am here tonight And someday you’ll know That nature is so This same rain that draws you near me Falls in rivers and land On forest and sand Makes the beautiful world that you see In the morning Little child, be not afraid The storm clouds mask your beloved moon And it’s candle like beams So keep pleasant dreams I am here tonight Little child, be not afraid The wind makes creatures of our trees And the branches to hands They’re not real understand And I am here tonightShe frowned slightly, sleepily at the words about the moon. Matt smiled, but kept singing softly. He knew that she’d always preferred the sun or the stars to the moon, but this was the way the song went.
And someday you’ll know That nature is so This same rain that draws you near me Falls in rivers and land On forests and sand Makes the beautiful world that you see In the morning For you know once even I was a little child And I was afraid But a gentle someone always came To dry all my tears To switch sleep for fears And to give a kiss goodnightMatt’s voice shook slightly over the previous verse, remembering when his mother would sing him to sleep. The little girl’s eyes had slipped closed by now, but she was still just slightly awake, so Matt carried on.
Well, now I am grown And these years have shown The rains a part of how life goes But it’s dark and it’s late So I’ll hold you and wait Until your frightened eyes do close And I hope that you’ll know That nature is so This same rain that draws you near me Falls in rivers and land On forest and sand Makes the beautiful world that you see In the morning Everything’s fine in the morning The rain’ll be gone in the morning But I’ll still be here in the morningAfter the lyrics had all been sung, Matt continued humming slightly though the little girl was deeply asleep. His hand had long since stopped carding through her dark red hair an sat limply in his lap. His eyes hadn’t stopped watering throughout the ending of the song and tears were still trickling quietly down his cheeks.
Little Mary snuffled softly in her bed, unaware of her silently crying son next to her.
This little snippet is far into the future for this little universe, but it’s been on my mind for a while and I had to write it down.
My mom often sang us to sleep at night, so much so that the first thing I have ever tried to get my nieces and nephews to sleep is some of her songs being sung softly.