The Oni's smile

On this night, the moon shone brightly, with no clouds present in the night sky. The light illuminated the room of a human girl, sleeping in a small canopy bed, carved beautifully from dark wood. As was usual for her, a small candle stood lit by her bedside. A gust of wind blew open her window, and blew out the candle. The wind glided over the face of the girl, awakening her. She blinked her eyes a few times, before looking around the room. Well past midnight, and the light from the moon seemed to elongate the shadows into twisted shapes. Fear gripped her young heart. A memory from not long ago tugged at her mind. A nursery rhyme, a grim one her parents had sung to scare her into behaving. Without thinking, she started singing the words under her breath.

“Lock the door, blow out the light; The hungry oni haunts the night.”

She grabbed her teddy and slid off of the bed, and felt the cold floor beneath her feet. She started walking towards the door, seeking the comfort of her parents. Past the door, she stopped, staring into the darkness ahead.

“Hide and tremble, little one; The oni wants to have some fun.”

Her grip tightened on her teddy until her knuckles whitened and her small hands were trembling. She took a deep breath and started walking down the hall. Only the moonlight lit the path ahead.

“Hear it scratching on the door; See its shadow cross the floor.”

She stopped dead in the middle of the hallway, and fear and realization clutched her tiny heart. She turned back around towards her room, praying not to see what she thought she would see. Her door, which stood slightly ajar, bore deep claw marks. Within her room, a long shadow crawled across the floor. As it crept closer, she could sense a toothy smile from it, and she realized - she had never been the one singing

“The sun won’t rise for quite a while; Till then, beware the oni’s smile”

The girl wakes up screaming in her bed, drenched in cold sweat. It takes a few seconds for her to become aware of her surroundings. The morning sun is shining through the window into her room.

“Only a nightmare,” she thinks to herself. But the feeling of unease still lingers.