Another knock, more frantic than the first, "Coming!" I called back to the insistent pounding, as I slid my cold toes into the fleece slippers and jerked open the door. As I was about to share my agitated mood, I found Piglet on the other side of my door, shivering. Eyes wider than the Grand Canyon and as white as a ... a ...
"Piglet?"
"Hello Blue Eyes, did I wake you?" He pushed past me to stand in the center of the room.
"If I did Blue Eyes, I am so sorry. I can go home. I should go home. I'm sure you were sleeping safely in your bed and here I am bothering you with my silliness." He would have continued rambling if I hadn't said, "Piglet?"
"Yes Blue Eyes?" He answered back.
"My dear friend, forgive me my poor manners at this hour. Please, do come in, sit down," I motioned to the room at large, "Would you like some tea, Piglet, to take the chill of the night away?"
"Oh yes Blue Eyes, that would be wonderful! Do you still have that Chamomile tea? That is my favorite. I could drink that all the time. Hot or cold ...." He continued to talk about nothing for another two hours and then just as suddenly as he came, he stood and announced, "Oh my, look at the hour! Blue Eyes you've kept me up until nearly morning. I do thank you for the tea and the conversation and the warmth of your home, but I really must be going. I am exhausted."
We walked to the door, hugged tightly, wished each other the sweetest of dreams and he was gone.
As I crawled into my now cold bed, I was still perplexed at his visit, but reminded myself that Piglet thinks differently than most, closed my eyes and dreamed of Unicorns.
That had become the pattern of my vespertine existence for a week, when one evening as we sat and drank Chamomile tea and spoke of nothing, I felt compelled to ask Piglet what it was that kept him awake each night.
"Oh I am so glad you asked Blue Eyes. I've been hoping you would ask for days and days now, but you never did. And now that you have," he paused, "I'm not sure what to say."
His little pink shoulders seemed to relax as though someone had removed a large, cumbersome burden.
I sat quietly and watched my tiny pink friend gather the words to give freedom to his thoughts, and realized that he was very correct. He had wanted me to ask. He had given me all the clues, all the permission and time in the world to inquire of his troubled disposition, and I had chosen to just be the good host.
"Blue Eyes, have you ever been afraid?" His eyes moist as he looked up into my own, and it was then that I finally allowed myself to really see him and his fear was more obvious than the full moon which shown through the windows and added illumination to the room.
I silently nodded my head and with a heart filled with overflowing, I took his diminutive hand in mine, and simply said, "Tell me ... "
"It's not there during the day. I've looked. I crawled under my bed when I had to pull out my shoe and there was nothing there. But every night, as I lay there in my bed, the room quiet and shaded, I see it. It moves slowly out from under my bed, and it sits there at the foot and whispers to me." He squeezed my hand, "It tells me the most horrible things. I fight with it every night, and in the morning the only proof that is was there is how I feel."
"Dear Piglet, why didn't you say something sooner? Why have you kept such a secret?" I moved closer to comfort my friend. "What is this "thing" that haunts your sleep?" I gently inquired, "What does it say to you? How do you feel each morning?"
"I didn't want to be a bother to anyone." His little body proud and erect. "I would lay in my bed and hide under the covers and sing out loud, hoping to drown out the whisperings. In the beginning it worked and I could barely hear it's words, but each night it was as though it became stronger and stronger. Soon, no matter how loud I sang, it's whispers rang in my ears, bounced off the walls in my room and settled right there on my bed! It's not a monster, or anything like that. I mean it has no shape, or form ... but it's there, every night, it's there."
Stopping to take a deep breath, his little pink body drew in on it's self and he continued speaking, "So, one night as I was looking out my window, I saw that your light was still on and decided to come for a visit. Just to stay awake. Just so that I wouldn't have to be alone."
"Oh Piglet, you could never be a bother! To me, to anyone. I am glad you knocked on my door that night, I am glad we are together." I smiled tenderly at my friend. "Tell me how can I help you?"
"Blue Eyes, it says that I will always be alone. That no matter how many friends are around me, I am alone. It makes me feel so sad. It makes me feel so ... so ... ! Even when Pooh and Tigger and Rabbit, all of you are here, I cannot shake that feeling."
I sighed softly, nodded my head in understanding and said, "I know what loneliness is Piglet and yes, it is scary. To feel that even when all your loved ones are with you, when you are surrounded by friends, you stand alone. Unnoticed, unheard."
"Oh yes Blue Eyes, that is exactly what it's like! It whispers to me that if I was gone, no one would miss me. That I'm not as important as Pooh or Christopher Robin, or as fun as Roo, or as happy as Tigger! It tells me that I am a bother." His voice began to quiver again and I held him tight.
"When I wake in the morning, when I open my eyes and look around, all I hear is, 'You are alone' and I just want to cry."
At that point Piglet did begin to cry and cry. And as I held him tight and rocked him slowly, I began to whisper into his ear, "Piglet, my sweet Piglet. You will never be alone. You have far too many who love you to ever allow you to be alone. We all feel this way at times. We feel isolated and frightened. We think that no one could possibly know, could possible understand how scary it is."
I wiped the tears from Piglet's eyes, and made him blow his nose.
"Would you do me one favor Piglet? The next time it comes to you, it sits on your bed and begins to whisper, talk to it. Don't hide from it, don't be afraid of it. Just talk to it. Listen to what it has to say, and realize that it's just as frightened of being alone as it wants you to be. That's why it's there."
Piglet looked up at me, a puzzled look on his face, " I don't understand Blue Eyes, why is it there?"
"It's there Piglet because it is alone and it is scared and if it can convince you that you are too, then it won't be alone any longer. It will have you to keep it company."
"Oh my goodness! That makes perfect sense! Of course, now why didn't I think of that." Piglet shook his head. "Oh how sad! The poor thing ... All alone. Yes, yes. That is exactly what I will do. I will make it some tea and we will talk and talk and then it won't have to be alone."
For the first time that night, Piglet smiled. He smiled from the depths of his hoofed feet.
He hugged me tightly and ran for the door.
"Piglet wait! Where are you going?" I asked, startled by his action.
"I have to go home Blue Eyes. It's waiting for me and we have so much to talk about."
He ran back, grabbed my arm, pulled me down to kiss my cheek and headed for the door again. Pausing slightly, his cheeks flushed, "Um Blue Eyes, would you mind if I took some of your Chamomile tea with me?"
I laughed and handed him the box of tea and watched as he raced home to make peace with his nightmare.
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