I crouched down to her level. “What’s wrong?”
“There are heads in her closet. Real heads. They were looking at me,” she said, tears spilling down her cheeks.
I scooped her up. “We need to go.”
I apologized to Lily and rushed Chloe to my mom’s house, my mind racing. Was Chloe imagining things, or had she really seen something? After calming Chloe, I drove back to Lily’s. Could Chloe’s fear be real?
When Lily opened the door, I casually asked if I could check out the old video game console. She agreed, and I headed to the closet. I opened it to find Halloween masks, not heads. Relief washed over me, but guilt followed quickly. I returned to Lily and admitted I’d checked her closet, explaining Chloe’s fear.
Lily burst out laughing. “She thought they were real? Oh my gosh!”
But when she saw my concern, her laughter faded. “I didn’t think about how those masks might scare her. I’ll move them.”
The next day, Lily came to my mom’s house with a silly mask. She gently explained it was just for Halloween, and Chloe, once terrified, now giggled as she tried it on.
Months later, Chloe tugged Lily’s hand as we walked through the park. “Mommy Lily, can we go on the swings?”
Lily smiled, “Of course, sweet girl.”
Watching them, I realized that what could’ve caused tension had instead brought us closer. We’d overcome fear with trust, and that had made us stronger.