# Afraid in the Dark - Source: McGuffey's Second Reader (second-reader.gutenberg.org), Public domain, William Holmes McGuffey, 1879, via Project Gutenberg - Reading level: Grades 1 and 2 - Subjects: Stories - Topics: dark, willie, mamma, shadow, afraid, brave - Length: 201 words, about 1 min - Original: - Page: - Open in Sprouts: AFRAID IN THE DARK. - "Willie, will you run upstairs, and get my needle book from the bureau?" - But Willie did not stir. "Willie!" said mamma. She thought he had not heard. - "I'm afraid," said Willie. - "Afraid of what?" - "It's dark up there." - "What is the dark?" asked mamma. "See! It is nothing but a shadow." And she held her hand between the lamp and the workbasket on the table. - "Now it is dark in the basket; but as soon as I take my hand away, it is light." - "Come and stand between the lamp and the wall, Willie. See! There is your shadow on the wall. Can your shadow hurt you?" - "Oh no, mamma! I am sure it can not hurt me." - "Well, the dark is only a big shadow over everything." - "What makes the big shadow, mamma?" - "I will tell you all about that, Willie, when you are a little older. But now, I wish you would find me a brave boy who is not afraid of shadows, to run upstairs and get my needlebook." - "I am brave, mamma. I will go. —Here it is." - "Thank you, my brave little man. You see the dark didn't hurt you." SLATE WORK. ## Picture credits - illustrator not named in this edition, Public domain () - illustrator not named in this edition, Public domain () - illustrator not named in this edition, Public domain ()