It's dark, unbearably so. I reach out my hands, groping around to feel the walls around me, cold, rough, vaguely like cement. The walls are round, enclosing me completely. In the pitch black, I lift my gaze to see a small circle of light shining in front of me. Despite being no more than a few meters away, the circle of light seems far, incomparably, unimaginably far. I reach out my fingers, but all I feel is the enclosing, blanketing, smothering-

"Are you okay?" I hear a soft, milky sounding voice, then suddenly a face appears in the circle of light, almost completely filling the exit to the tunnel. I blink, stunned. The face is young, perhaps 7 or 8 years old with round flushed cheeks, dark curls falling into his face, and a mole by his lower lip. His large dark eyes are full of naiveite. 

"Do you need help?" 

Blinking again, I process his words. 

"I-I-it's so dark." I hear myself say. Why is my voice so soft, so high...?

"That's okay!" The child says, "just come this way and it's much brighter!" The boy gestures behind him, to the outside of the tunnel.

"But-But I can't see anything." 

"But you will be able to if you come here!" I glance at the exit filled with the boy's big head that seems so unreachably far. 

"I-I can't...it's so dark and..." 

The dark haired boy sighs, probably fed up with my hesitance. "It's okay! Come on!" He thinks for a minute. "How about this, I'll be your eyes!"

I look up. "You'll be...my eyes?" The boy smiles radiantly, and despite the darkness I find myself captivated. 

"I'll be your eyes and see for you. So just follow me!" The boy bends half his body into the tunnel and reaches his hand out. I stare at his outstretched fingers.

"Come on!" I glance back at his vibrantly smiling visage. Then, slowly, I lift my own pale fingers and reach out, crawling forward a little to reach him. Our hands make contact. It's soft, and warm. 

"There, see!" The boy smiles even more vibrantly, and this time my gaze is completely hooked. I'm still imagining the smile minutes later when he pulls me out of the tunnel and it continues flashing in my head moments after that when I'm awoken by the incessant ringing of my cellphone.

Sighing I stretch for a moment before grabbing the unceasing appliance and bringing it to my ear.

"...Hello."

"Hey, Jason, man, well you know-"

"Get on with it."

"Well someone sounds grouchy. What, did I interrupt a good dream or something?"

I roll my eyes, despite the fact that he can't see me, and simply stay quiet. 

"Anyway, so the hiking club has this-"

"No."

"You didn't even listen!"

I roll my eyes again, fumbling around for my glasses case. "Because I know exactly what you want to ask. And the answer is no."

"But, it'll be relaxing and enriching!"

"I'm plenty 'relaxed' and 'enriched' right here." Pulling out my glasses from their case, I slide them onto my face.

"Burying your face in textbooks?"

"Excuse me, I'm working towards a goal, that's plenty enriching. Plus, it's not like that's all I do." 

"What, those literary club events?"

"Yup."

"What do you guys even do?"

"We hold autograph events, book fairs and the like...speaking of which," I glance down at the time on my phone, "I have one coming soon and I want to get my yoga in before it so I've got to go."

"Hey instead of doing that, why don't you come to the gym and crunch some weights with me?"

"I prefer yoga."

"But does it even do anything?"

"Of course it does. It's a key part of my healthy living life plan."

"Well hiking is also about being healthy." 

I stay silent. "Okay, if you don't have anything productive to add, I'm hanging up now."

"Jas-" Click. I hang up, get out of bed, and go to brush my teeth. After doing so, I pull out my yoga matt, select the DoYogaWithMe app, and start playing a video.

"From downward dog, transition into a high plank, then chaturanga..." 

As I follow the movements and activate my body I feel it waking up. As I stretch, and bend, and crunch, I inwardly scoff at the bias people have towards yoga. Somehow everyone seems to think it's better to go to the gym and lift a bunch of dumbbells or run ten miles. Compared to those rough activities that make you sweat like a pig, I'd rather do yoga. It has the same benefits however it's also more elegant. At the same time, rather than simply strengthening your body at the cost of flexibility and finesse, it allows you to be lose, lithe, and nimble. I stretch into an upward dog, before sitting back on my heels into a child's pose. 

After completing my morning video I grab a towel and wipe the thin sheen of sweat covering my face, before turning and heading over to the bathroom to shower. 

I change into a clean white shirt and jeans, lightly combing my blonde hair. As I do so, I ruminate over the dream. I can't believe I remember his face so clearly after so many years. It was my first time at the Fun House, a supposedly fun place for kids to run around and climb over things. It's also where I discovered that I have claustrophobia. It's mild but in the dark, cramped tunnel, I could feel all my worst nightmares coming to life. Honestly, it wasn't the cramped space that truly got to me, as much as the darkness. 

I have a fear of darkness, ha! I scoff at the irony. How can I have a fear of the dark?

I glance towards the TV and turn to the weather channel. For a second the bright blues and reds on the screen meld. I blink, and they realign themselves. But there's still a fuzziness around the edges. I blink several more times, but despite wearing my glasses, the fuzziness remains.

How can I have a fear of the dark when soon enough, it'll be all I can see?