EVERY MORNING AT SIX, THE ELDEST SON WOULD SLIP INTO HIS YOUNGER BROTHER’S ROOM — LEAVING HIS PARENTS SPEECHLESS WHEN THEY FINALLY DISCOVERED WHY

The mother froze in the dim dawn light, her heart pounding in her chest. For weeks, she had quietly watched her eldest son sneak into his little brother’s room at daybreak, puzzled by the ritual that never failed. Today, she finally decided to ask why.

He looked up, eyes wide and solemn — far too serious for a boy his age. The innocence in his face was shadowed by something else: resolve, maybe even fear.

“I have to keep him safe, Mom,” he whispered. “The shadow man comes at night.”

The words hit her like a shock of ice. She searched his face for a hint of a joke, for imagination or mischief. There was none. Only honesty — and fear.

She tried to steady her voice. “What do you mean, sweetheart? What shadow man?”

He hesitated, glancing toward the crib where his baby brother slept peacefully. His voice was quiet but sure. “I see him sometimes. He stands in the corner of my room. Just watching. He never talks. But when I wake up, he’s gone. I think he wants to take my brother. So I come here to keep him safe.”

Her stomach tightened.

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