For this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, Linda G. Hill has given us the word “light” and says to use it and/or its opposites, “heavy” and “dark.” Alrighty then, let’s do this.

It was a dark and stormy night. I’d been walking for several hours and my clothes were soaked through from the heavy rain. I was exhausted, but then I saw off in the distance what appeared to be an old house and there were lights on throughout the house. Encouraged, I picked up my pace and managed to arrive at the door of the house about ten minutes later.

I knocked loudly on the door and after a moment, the large porch light came on. A man dressed like a butler opened the door and gestured for me to come in. I stepped inside and the man offered to lighten my load by taking off my coat, which was heavy from the rain.

He asked me if I was hungry and I told him that a cup of hot coffee sounded great. He led me into the kitchen. “Light or dark?” he asked.

I assumed he was asking about how I like my coffee. “Black,” I said, “with one sugar.” He nodded, left the room for a few moments, and then returned with a cup of steaming hot coffee. I asked him if I could stay the night, given how bad the weather was.

“Of course,” he said. “I’ll have a room made up for you immediately.” He disappeared for about ten minutes and then returned. “Your room is ready,” he said, gesturing for me to follow him up the dimly lit staircase to the second floor, which I did. He opened the door to the bedroom, which was a large, well-appointed room. The fireplace had a fire burning, making it nice and toasty. “I’ve laid out some pajamas and a robe for you. There’s a toothbrush and some towels in the ensuite bathroom,” he said. “Will there be anything else?”

“No,” I responded, “this is fine, thank you.” With that, he left the room. I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and then returned to the bedroom and got into pajamas. I turned on the bedstand light, got into bed, and started reading a book when the light started flickering. After a moment, the light flickered off completely, leaving the room dark except for the glow from the fireplace.

I was pondering getting up to look for the man, but it was getting late and my eyelids were feeling heavy, so I just decided to close my eyes and get some sleep. I figured I’d get things sorted out in the morning.

If only I had lived to see the light of another day.