It was silent, It was peaceful it was a perfect night to take a walk. The wind trembled as the night walker glided through his gate into the cool misty twilight. Wearing a black bowl hat, black three piece suit and Italian leather shoes, he gave the impression of a shadow. He gave off a cold, sad aura; as if what he were about to do were the repetition of a boring job he wished he could quit. As the night walker made his way down the street he looked to the starlit sky wondering if he ever could. He pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time, seven hours before his time was up on this world. Seven hours before the sun rose and he crumbled along with the night. Snapping it shut, letting the sound reverberate off the air, he continued on his way. He made no sound as he strode, silent as a shadow, blending into the twilight hours and yet the trees appeared to cringe and alley cats that were rummaging through the garbage hiss as he slunk by. His steps released frost, turning the weeds sticking out of the pavement to crystallized beauties.

As he approached his destination the night walker’s steps slowed. He stared at the house, imagining the type of family that lived inside. An everyday, typical family he supposed: a father with a cubicle job wearing a suit and tie day in day out, a mother that wakes up early to make breakfast and drives the children to school then goes to work herself, and children who go to school, play with friends, and go home to their normal, typical family. They would come home and do homework, antagonize each other, and watch television. They would all have dinner together and talk about their day, the father would sometimes be a little late because he was held up at the office trying to finish some documents. The mother would be a little peeved but wouldn’t make a huge deal out of it until the kids are all tucked away and they are left to talk things out as she cleans up. Yes, he’s done this so many times he can imagine a full day in detail of what it’s like to live in such a typical family dynamic. The sadness in his eyes deepened; he fixed the cufflinks on his coat sleeve, rolled his shoulders back, cracked his neck, and walked up to the house.

Opening the window by the snap of his fingers the night walker enters the room. He breathed deeply, he knew that smell anywhere. It was what called him here from his own home in the first place. As he passed through the room and approached the bed, glass shook and the mirror by the dresser cracked. The temperature dropped at least ten degrees from when he first entered. Looming over the bed he gazed at its occupant, a little girl no more than eight years old sleeping soundly, dreaming of little girl things such as princesses and ponies and sweets. Her face was frail and so transparent he could almost see her bones. There was no sign of the rosy pink color little girls are supposed to have, hers was paper white. The night walker then did what he had to do; he woke the little girl up.

He reached out and caressed the little girls face, making her shiver from the coldness. She drowsily opened her eyes and looked up at the night walker. The night walker lifts her out of bed and sets her down on the floor. She’s dressed in a frilly pink night dress, her hair was all messy, and her eyes were wide as she looked back at her lifeless body. She then began to cry, this was the part he hated the most because even after all these years he still had no way to comfort her. He put a hand on her shoulder and let her cry everything out as she realized what had happened to her. When she was done, her face was puffy, her brown eyes tinged with red, she asked what about her mother and father, what would they do? He answered her in the only way he knew how; by saying the truth—he said that they would be very sad that she was gone, and that they would probably cry when they find out. The emptiness inside him grew bigger as his reply set her into more hysterical fits. She beat his hand away and cried into her bed sheets. He stepped back, giving her the space she needed. Checking his watch the night walker saw that they only had three hours before sunrise. He needed to bring her over the gate before she loses her chance of ever having peace.

After a while, she was finally out of tears and sobs. The little girl got up and asked the night walker if she could say goodbye before she went away. How could he refuse the last request of such a tiny, fragile creature? He nodded his head and they went to her parent’s room. Inside were her mother and father sleeping soundly just as she was before he ruined it. The little girl ran up to the bed and smiled at them, she said her goodbyes in the only way a little girl knew how: by hugging each one tightly and giving them a goodnight kiss. She gave them each another hug and told them that she loved them and that she would be waiting for them in a voice raw from crying. She then looked at him with miserable eyes, which stabbed him, and took his hand saying she was ready to go. How brave the human soul was, the night walker thought as he grasped the little girl and picked her up.

They walked back out into the night, before continuing he checked his pocket watch again: one hour. The night walker tightened his grip around her as he started down the street. He knew that he was not the only shadow lurking in the darkness, nor was he the most dangerous. The little girl dozed off in his arms, tired from the crying and the shock of what had happened. He wasn’t surprised; she wasn’t the youngest one he had to carry over the gate. The youngest would have been a baby boy not five months old, he was born blue and the parents were amazed he had even breathed that long. She was lighter than he had expected her to be, maybe because she was a little girl of few to no regrets. The fewer the regrets the easier it is to accept ones fate and cross over, unfortunately for the night walker he never got that fate. He was fated to walk across that gate every night, bringing back different people each time—some old, some middle-aged, some teenagers, and some small children like the little girl.

The air shivered, the trees bent, the night still as when he began. As they came to the gate the night walker woke the little girl. He set her down and held her hand. She asked him what the light inside the gate was. He told her to look closer and for her to tell him. She said there were unicorns and bunnies and trees made of lollipops and people sledding down hills of white sugar. There was a lake that seemed to be frozen and people were dancing on it, there was this one girl that was dressed in the most beautiful dress. The little girl said she was dressed like a princess and that she was waving at her and smiling for her to go and join the celebration. The night walker gave her a small, thin smile. Out of the many things in his job this was the one thing he looked forward to, the description of the worlds they get to enter. The little girl’s face looked at the night walker and smiled. She asked him if it was okay to go, excitement filling her eyes. He nodded, still smiling, and released her hand. The little girl raced towards the princess and stopped right in front of the gate and turned back to the night walker who was watching her as she went.

In his surprise, the little girl ran back to him and gave him a huge hug. He didn’t know how to react, but the crystallized flowers around him melted back into dull weeds. Inside him he felt warmth tingle the emptiness and faintly spread throughout his person. What an odd feeling he thought. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. She tightened her grip and began crying again. She looked up this time, not with misery, but with contentment.

They released each other and the little girl proceeded to cross the gate. She turned back yet again and said two words the night walker had never heard directed towards him before: thank you. With that, the little girl ran to the princess and proceeded to dance with everyone else.

Another job completed he thought to himself as he watched the gate close and another open. The night walker felt something roll down his cheek. He swiped it with his finger and inspected it. He was crying, silent tears were streaming down his face and he, himself, was trembling. He had never felt like this before, he couldn’t describe it at all. He could describe each person he had to lead across in great detail, what they were wearing, how they reacted, what they saw on the other side, but he could not describe the emotions he was feeling, welling up inside him. He looked at his pocket watch: five minutes. He saw the sun begin to come up and watched as the light stretched out across the early morning earth. The night walker listened to the noises of everything waking up, the trees stretching their limbs, the animals waking from night’s sleep, and humans waking to do some early morning jogging.

His smile got bigger as the warmth from the little girl continued spreading. It filled the emptiness inside him, wiping away some of the deep sadness that had been haunting him. He felt lighter, no longer filled with such burden. He felt his duty no longer miserable and depressing. The pavement crunched underneath him as he walked up to his own gate to home. He took one last breath of the earth and stepped over the gate. Back inside his own estate the night walker checked his pocket watch one last time that night: twelve hours, twelve more hours until his nightly walk.