In The Dark by Susannah McFarlane

It was night and Emma Jacks was lying in bed wide-awake, feeling nervous. In fact, she was quite scared. The hall light was on but it still seemed very dark to Emma, and Emma didn’t like the dark. You couldn’t see what was going on, and when you couldn’t see what was going on, you sometimes imagined scary things.
    Emma turned her bedside light on and that helped, sort of. There were still shadows and noises—and every noise she heard worried her.Was the thing making the noise inside, was it outside? Was it outside but wanting to come inside? Was it something dangerous?
    Part of Emma knew she was being silly but the other half, slightly more than half, couldn’t stop feeling scared. And once she started thinking about one scary thing, more things seemed to tumble into her head. At least she had already realised that the tall, pointy shadows that seemed to be coming towards her room from the hallway were only the coats hanging up on the coat rack. They were the same coats that hung there every day, so why did her imagination tell her that they might suddenly become something scary at night? It was the same with the dangerous shape on the end of her bed, the dangerous gym bag that was always there. It was nuts.
    Then Emma heard a bang. In seconds, she was out of bed, down the hallway and into the living room where her mum was watching television. Their little husky puppy, Pip, was snuggled on her mum’s lap. Bang! There it was again. It came fromthe next room, the kitchen.
    Mum looked up. ‘Sorry Em. Dad’s being a bit noisy with the rubbish bin. Did the noise wake you?’ she asked.
    Oh, that was the rubbish bin, Emma thought to herself. That’s embarrassing.
    â€˜Um, no, I just wondered what that noise was but now I know, it’s okay.’
    â€˜Back to bed then,’ said Mum.
    Emma was hoping her mum would say ‘Why don’t you cuddle up here and watch a bit of television first?’ but it was a school night and that was unlikely to happen. She walked back down the hallway and had just reached her bedroom door when she saw a tall, dark figure standing in front of her wardrobe. Emma froze, her mouth went dry, she felt her heart beat fast and her mind started racing faster. What was it and what was it doing in her bedroom? Was it looking for her? Quickly she turned on the light ... Oh, it is my ‘evil’ dressing gown, thought Emma, relieved but also embarrassed, even if there was no one else around.
    This is ridiculous, thought Emma as she got back into bed. Get a grip Emma! Are you afraid of your dressing gown now? She lay there, eyes wide open, thinking. Why did she always get so jumpy in the dark? How was she going to cope at Hannah’s slumber party if she got this nervous in her own bed? Did the other girls feel scared sometimes?
    Emma started counting backwards from one thousand. Sometimes that helped her get to sleep because it was so boring. 1000, 999, 998, 997, 996, 995, maybe I need a glass of water, 994, 993, 992, yes, I think I do, 991 990, 989, 988, right, I’ll go and get one.
    Emma walked back down the hallway. Both Mum and Dad were watching television now. She slipped into the room without them noticing and stopped just behind the sofa. Maybe if she stayed quiet she could sit there for a while, undetected, and watch a little television to take her mind off things? Good idea, Em, she thought. No one will know I’m here.
    Wrong.
    Pip must have heard her. The puppy jumped offthe sofa, saw Emma sitting behind it and, delighted that her play-friend was up again, bounded around her licking her face. Emma spluttered. Loudly.
    â€˜Emma, is that you? Why aren’t you in bed?’ Mum sounded slightly irritated.
    â€˜I just needed a glass of water.’
    â€˜And there’s one behind the sofa?’
    â€˜Oh, um, well I saw what you were watching and thought I might...’
    â€˜Back to bed you go,’ said Mum. ‘You need