The Magic Needle

The Magic Needle

Down the hallway, sobs could be heard,
muffled and faint as I lay sleeping.
Awaking, I listened but nary a word
came to me - only his distant weeping.

I silently moved and discovered my child,
wrapped in his blanket, his armor at night,
with tears on his cheeks, his eyes slightly wild.
Perhaps a dream was the cause of his fright?

I held him closely and vanquished his fears
with soothing words and soft, gentle strokes.
Soon he was quiet and gone were his tears.
"What's wrong, little man?" I began to coax.

In shuddering words he started to speak,
describing the horrors that lurked in the dark.
"There's one in the closet that makes the door squeak
and has glowing eyes and teeth like a shark.

"It’s going to get me," he mournfully said.
"I thought that your blanket provided protection?"
With a sniffle he raised it from off of the bed
and showed me the problem of its imperfection.

The edge was frayed where the yarn had come loose.
The binding was gone and a hole had been worn,
the result of love and not from abuse.
"Why, you should have told me that it was torn."

"I know what to do," I smilingly said,
"I'll be right back" and I ruffled his hair,
I returned in a flash with needles and thread
then picked up the blanket, gently with care.

He watched as I took what was already there
and, stitch by stitch, a pattern emerged
as I carefully worked on the blanket's repair,
and the sides of the hole slowly converged.

"What do you think?" I showed him the square
as I held up the pattern that I had just wrought.
"It looks like a picture of my Teddy Bear!"
There was joy in his voice, no longer distraught.

"I know you'll be safe between blanket and bear,
and nothing will ever disturb you at night."
A smile creased his face, gone was despair,
as he snuggled down with the blanket held tight.


An entry for the 1/21/14 round of "The Writer's Cramp" 
Line Count: 40
Prompt: Write about a seamstress whose abilities with a needle and thread are "magical." You may interpret this as literally or figuratively as you please.