I'm going to drop an interesting fictional story,NOT WRITTEN BY ME. The author is Tiffany Golden,from the website "Worldreader''...

The book

“Children are like the Land,” Papa Ogun always said. “Whatever you give to them, they will reproduce and return to you.”
...And so begins the story of a beautiful spirit named Midnight.
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There is a land called Shina so far away that the only way to get there is to close your eyes and dream. It is a land where magic’s mystery makes itself known. Where the light of LIFE, the gift of the MOST HIGH, burns in everyone’s eyes. Where the Spiritfolk live and walk amongst the peoplefolk, and it is where you can find Midnight, the Keeper of Dreams and Protector of children.

Now, everyone agreed that Midnight was the most beautiful spirit to ever be born to the land of Shina. She had the richest, blackest hair with the richest, blackest skin, and the richest, blackest face you ever did see. And without a question, she had the richest, blackest eyes known to her land. Eyes so deep, that when she opened them, she eclipsed the sun, calling forth the richest, blackest night. And when her work was done, she rested her melanin-filled eyes, letting the sun once again shine brightly on the land.
Now Midnight, just like everyone who lived in Shina, had a job or a duty called upon her in order to keep the land in balance. Midnight’s job was to guide the sleeping children down the Ndoto River, the river of dreams, taking them to Asili, the most mystical part of Shina—where rainbows were made, where stars got their tickle, where butterflies got their colors, and where each child was blessed to enjoy the magic of childhood, a marvelous gift from the MOST HIGH.
Each night, Midnight carefully prepared her ship to sail the vast water. She greeted the river with sweet stardust, making it sparkle brighter in the dark night. She spoke with the wind to see what kind of mood it was in, hoping it wasn’t too restless. She made over fifty little beds for the children, enough for the expected passengers and a few more—just in case.
Her last task was to check her trusted N.I.N.E.S.— Night-time Information Navigational Energy System . NINES always had the information Midnight needed, could be programmed to steer the ship, and most importantly, gave her the number of houses that had the blacklight—the signal for Midnight to stop and pick up a child.
One night, as Midnight sailed down the river, she immediately noticed something different. There was a house, a red house that had been along the riverbanks for years, many peoplefolk years, if Midnight had remembered correctly. Well, this particular night, she saw that the house’s black light turned on and turned off just as quickly. She checked with NINES. The house wasn’t on her schedule, but the blacklight came on again.
Maybe they finally have a child ready. Midnight thought to herself, not paying attention to the thin dark clouds circling the house. She didn’t think anything of them because she was so happy and excited to meet a new young one.
You see, this was one of the perks of Midnight’s job. Once the children became familiar with being away from their parents, they slept the whole ride so Midnight rarely got to sing to them like she liked to, rarely got to hold them, and sometimes on those quiet and lonely nights, she would find herself just singing and talking to the stars. And although she longed for company, she never made a fuss about it.
The stars would never complain, they loved Midnight so much. They loved the way her eyes glowed with love when she looked at the children. They loved the way her heartlight shined when they came near her. They loved the way she lit up the night sky with her joy. But most of all they loved her voice. Her voice could make the loneliest person feel loved, bring the meanest person to tears, and make the coldest person in the world feel the warmth of the Universe.
So Midnight docked her boat at the red house with the flickering black light and waited to meet this beautiful new child who was going to ride on her majestic ship for the first time.
As the door opened, the sizzle of electrical currents rumbled and the shattering wail of a young boy crying to the top of his lungs filled the air.
“NO!!! I DON’T WANNA GO!! NOOOO!!! MAMA!! MAMA!!! MAKE HIM STOP!!!! NOO!!!”
Midnight peeked in to see what was going on, and much to her surprise, there was a boy who seemed a little older than most of her “first riders”. He was dressed in red fatigue pajamas, holding on with all his might to the doorframe with both his hands and his feet, not wanting to walk out the door with his massive father, Red Daddy Kali. The boy balled his fists up as hard as he could, closed his eyes tightly, gnashed his teeth and the sizzle became louder as a bolt of lightning sprang from the boy, burning his father’s hands.
“Dagummit boy!! I done told you about that!”
The boy’s mother, Red Mama Malaika, spoke to him gently. “Baby,” she said. “C’mon and be a big boy for Mama...first...calm down, baby...you can do it, Askari...” The sizzling sound began to short out as his mama put a cool towel on the back of his neck.
Red Mama Malaika waited, then looked Little Askari deeply into his eyes and said, “Askari, you cannot burn Daddy. We do not use our fire to harm each other. What is our fire for?”
“To transform, create and direct.” He said it just as his mama had taught him.
“Is that how you used your fire when you burned Daddy?”
“No.”
“Then what do you need to do?” she asked him.
“I need to apologize.” And before Little Askari could fix his mouth to say anything, his big ol’ daddy grabbed his arm tightly, shaking him so hard he began to cry.

“Don’t you ever burn me again!! Get on that boat, boy—suck it up and shut up! You think you s’posed to go?! Huh?!? Ain’t nobody got to do nothin’ for you, boy! You s’posed to be a son of the red light, and you sittin’ up here like a little crybaby—shamed you even my blood—get out my face!!” he yelled as he pushed the small boy away.
“Quit doin’ him like that!” Red Mama Malaika shouted. “You not helpin’ none!”
Red Daddy Kali looked at his wife. “When you become an officer of the red light, then you can tell me how to raise my boy.”
Red Mama Malaika’s feelings were hurt, but she would not cry. “I am an officer of the Red Light, General—charged with keeping the integrity of the flame—and I will do my job whether recognized by you or not.” Red Mama Malaika turned away from Red Daddy Kali and knelt down to her son, hugging him tightly, and as a tear escaped from her eye, she whispered in his ear, “Midnight will make it better, baby, please go.”
Little Askari held his head down and tried to cry without making noise so his father wouldn’t get any madder. Midnight stood there in shock. She had never seen any family act like this before. Where is all the laughter, the smiles, and “I love yous”? Where is the light? she thought to herself, finding it hard to believe that this darkness could exist in a place like Shina.
Red Daddy Kali looked at his wife and son, disgusted. “Stop coddlin’ him—you just want him to be a mama’s boy! That boy is a soldier of the red light—and soldiers don’t cry, they move! Now get on that boat!”
“I’m showing him some love!” Red Mama Malaika said as her eyebrows rose in anger, “A direct order from the MOST HIGH!”
“That’s it!! I give the orders in this house!!” Red Daddy Kali yelled. “He’s not goin’!! Get in the house, boy!!”
“What is your problem?! You don’t even know what goes on during the voyage—so how you gon’ tell him he cain’t go?!” Red Mama Malaika yelled back.
Midnight had to put a stop to this madness, it had gone on long enough, and she was about to be off schedule, as signaled by NINES . But one thing was sure; she was not leaving without Little Askari Red.
“You need to stop,” she told Red Daddy Kali, staring him right in his eyes. “Now, I have a job—my job is to pick up every child along this riverbank and take them to Asili so that they can be blessed by the MOST HIGH. Nothing and no one stops me from doing my job... nothing . Now, I am supposed to be three houses down already. I have been here long enough. And if you think I am going to walk away without
this little one, you are sadly mistaken.” Her voice began to surround the Red Family. “Now whatever your reason may be for wanting to keep your son from going to Asili is between you and the MOST HIGH. But let me say this,” Midnight said, pointing her long black finger at Red Daddy Kali, “ Terrible are the consequences for any being who hinders the blessing of a child.”
Red Daddy Kali looked at Midnight, flaring his nostrils as he stormed inside his red house, slamming the door. Red Mama Malaika looked back, sighed, and then bundled up her firstborn boy. “You be good, hear?”
“Why cain’t you come?” the boy asked his mother. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“Oh, baby,” his mother said as her soul smiled. “I’m always with you, no matter where you are—I’m in here,” she told him as she touched his heart. “Midnight will take such good care of you, you probably will never want to come home.” They all smiled.
“Kiss your mama goodbye, sweetheart...we’ll be back before you know it.”
The boy and his mother hugged tightly for a long time, then they said goodbye. Midnight kissed his forehead and tucked him in a little bed on her boat.
First nights were always hard. Sometimes the grown peoplefolk had a harder time than the little peoplefolk. Sometimes when Midnight dropped the children back home after the first night, their mothers pretended that they weren’t crying all night, but Midnight had been doing this long enough to know what it meant when she saw them mamas in the mornin’ with them puffy red eyes.
As soon as the ship was sailing down the river and the Red House was clear out of sight, the sizzle and crackling of electricity sounded as Little Askari Red looked out the corner of his eyes, closing them tightly and balling up his little fists. Before you knew it, a bright flash of lightning lit up the night sky.
“I want my mama!!!!” he screamed, waking up some of the sleeping children, scaring them.
Midnight knew she had to do something and fast. She had to make sure that the children had a pleasant and peaceful sleep while on her boat; it was her job. If they remained awake during the night, when the day would come, they would all be too tired to shine the blessed magical light received from Asili. And this was the duty of all children, to bring this heavenly joy to the rest of the land. So her first order of business was to soothe the children’s fears and put them back to sleep.

She put NINES on autopilot, gently cleared her throat, and hummed a captivating lullaby. As she began to sing, the sweetest air came out of her mouth, smelling like fresh baked sweet potato pies. She sang of the most divine protection by the loving arms of the MOST HIGH. Her voice made the nighttime butterflies come out from their secret hiding places. The stars came closer, kissing the children, dusting them with their stardust, humming along to Midnight’s tune until all the children felt secure and had returned to their slumber.
Midnight looked back to Little Askari Red who was sitting in the back of the boat, fists balled up, nodding off. Since the other children were fast asleep, Midnight could talk with Little Askari Red.
“Askari?” she said ever so gently, not wanting to totally pull him out of his lulled state. “Do you know why you’re on my boat?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Cuz my mama tol’ my daddy, if he don’t let me go, I’ll be messed up like him.”
“What?” Midnight said.
“Yeah, my mama was all yellin’ at him, tellin’ him ‘you better let my baby go to Asili wit’ Midnight, or you will be sorry, Kali Red!!!’” he said, imitating his Mama’s voice. “Sometimes they think I be sleep, but I don’t.”
“Well, that’s one reason,” Midnight said, “but, more importantly, to make sure that you are blessed and safe during the night. Is this your first night sleeping out your parents’ bed?”
“Naw, I got my own room. My daddy want me to sleep in there, but I be seein’ monsters so I run back in the bed with him and my mama!”
“Now, when you see these monsters, are you awake, or are you sleeping?”
“Mmch, I be wide awake! They be all like ‘RAAAAHHH!’ then I started cryin’! Then one time they came, and they was all like, ‘RAAAAAHHHH!’ then I was gon’ fight ‘em like my daddy tol’ me to, then that thang showed me its teeth, and I was all like—had to start cryin’! Then my mama came in my room and she was like, ‘Aww baby, it’s okay,’ and my daddy was all like, ‘Suck it up and shut up!’ Then my mama let me come in the room with them, then my daddy got mad.”
Now because Little Askari Red was a fire boy full of light and energy, Midnight needed to stay focused. “What do the monsters look like?” she asked him.
“They look like, y’know...MONSTERS!”
“Are they furry? Do they smell bad? Are they cock-eyed?”
Little Askari Red laughed. “Naw, they not cock-eyed...they big and red and got long tails, and they look like dragons ‘cept they got eyes like stars, not eyes like eyes.”
“How many of them are there?” she asked.
“I be too afraid to count ‘em!!” he said.
“Think hard,” Midnight told the boy.
After he put his hand to his chin and looked up to the sky, he said, “Sometimes three, sometimes seven.”
“NINES, pull up creatures from the dreams and beings file.” Midnight scratched her rich, black hair scrolling through light-filled images. “Hmmm...let’s see, dragons, dragon eyes—no, serpents, serpentine fires, no, let’s try monsters... monsaps, monsips, monstars...monstars? ‘Different from monsters, beasts of battle with star eyes.’ There’s gotta be a picture in here,” she said, scrolling further. And before they knew it, the face of a big red beast with star eyes, just like Askari said, popped out—looking at Askari and showing its big Monstar teeth to him! Midnight quickly pushed the beast back inside—with the help of two nearby stars, of course.
“That’s them!!” Askari shouted as Midnight closed the rumbling file. “They be sittin’ by my door and sometimes by my window in my room— sometimes when my daddy be walkin’ past my room, they scare me ‘cause they be growlin’ and showin’ they big ol’ teeth and stuff.”
Hmmm , Midnight thought to herself, dabbing the little beads of sparkling sweat on her forehead. “Do you see anything else?”
“Well, sometimes I see golden butterflies around them.”
Midnight nodded her head. She could not figure out why the Monstars were seeking out Little Askari Red just yet, but she did know that golden butterflies symbolized the highest form of change.
Months and months had passed, and every night Midnight would pick up Little Askari Red, and they would talk for a minute so he could wind down, then he would fall fast asleep.
But one night when Midnight went to pick up Little Askari Red, she noticed that the dark clouds around the red house were getting thicker. This puzzled Midnight. She had thought for sure that the clouds would leave since Askari was doing so much better. This time, Askari was already sleeping, and Red Mama Malaika carried him out while Red Daddy Kali stood in the doorway.
Red Mama Malaika greeted Midnight with a hello smile but not a happy smile. Midnight took Askari from Red Mama Malaika and laid him gently in his little bed on the boat.
“He’s doin’ much better,” Red Mama Malaika said to Midnight, seeming nervous. “He doesn’t ask to sleep with us anymore, and...he doesn’t have those ‘accidents’ anymore.” Red Mama Malaika seemed to want to say something else, but for some reason, just wouldn’t.

Midnight felt the heaviness of Red Mama Malaika behind her. Midnight turned around, looking Red Mama Malaika directly in her eyes, the gateway to her heart. Red Mama Malaika tried so hard to bury her painful woe, wiping her tears before they could fall down her cheek.
Red Mama Malaika spoke softly and sadly. “Y’know, I just thought things would get better if...if Askari got to go to Asili, y’know? And he’s doin’ so much better! He’s so much happier and—” Red Mama Malaika couldn’t hold back anymore. “He’s such a sweet baby—and he just doesn’t deserve meanness, y’know? And I try to make sure he feels loved every second of the day, but it’s hard—because it doesn’t feel like it’s just Kali, it feels like there’s something
bigger trying to break my baby’s spirit—and my love for him is not enough to keep him safe...Midnight—PLEASE HELP US!” Red Mama Malaika quietly screamed as Midnight held her in her loving Black arms.
The heavy clouds around the red house began to rumble, swirling around the house as if going to swallow it whole. Midnight looked at the house and then at Red Mama Malaika, choosing three stars to put a sound barrier made of knitted night clouds around the boat so as to not wake the sleeping children. “What you are feeling is right, Askari is no longer safe here. You must—”
And as Midnight was going to tell Red Mama Malaika what she must do, Red Daddy Kali appeared with a dark cloud circling over his head and began to board the boat. Both Midnight and Red Mama Malaika looked at him. Everything was beginning to make sense to Midnight. But before Red Daddy Kali could board the boat with Red Mama Malaika and all the children, Midnight had to stop him.
“Stop,” she told Red Daddy Kali. “You travel with a spirit that cannot be around children.”
“What?!” he said, stopping dead in his tracks.
“Your heart is not your own. You have given your heart away.”
“Yeah, to my wife!” Red Daddy Kali said, blowing Midnight off. “C’mon, Malaika, it’s late.”
Red Mama Malaika looked at Red Daddy Kali, then at Midnight. She was torn about what to do.
“Malaika!” Red Daddy called out again. “C’mon!”
“She does not have your heart,” Midnight told him. “Your child does not have your heart—the MOST HIGH doesn’t even have your heart!”
Red Daddy Kali took offense at Midnight’s words. “Since you know so much—who has my heart?”
Midnight gazed deeply into Red Daddy Kali’s heart space. Her eyes enlarged as they filled with tears, and she was overcome with sadness. And from the east, a deep, cold wind blew in, leaving an icy frost on the night-blooming flowers growing on the riverbanks. “Your heart belongs to the Huzinis of the East Wind,” she told him.
“The who of what ?!” he immediately said.
“The Huzinis; they are the keepers of tears and sadness, and the givers of bitterness and unspeakable sorrow.” Midnight softly touched Red Daddy Kali’s chest. “You have no tears to heal your heart. You have given them away, and bitterness is all that remains.”
“I could cry! I just don’t like to! SEE LOOK!” Red Daddy Kali tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried, but there were no tears.
“Sing a song, Midnight,” Red Mama Malaika said. She loved her husband so much, and she wanted him to cry too.
Midnight cleared her throat and sang an amazingly beautiful song. And everybody cried. Red Mama Malaika, the trees, the stars, the boat—even the water started crying! Everyone except Red Daddy Kali.
He looked around, noticing that he was the only one not crying, and he said, “Who cares? What a man need to cry for anyway?”
Midnight sighed; this indeed was going to be a long night.
“Tears are a connecting power between the body and spirit. The waters open pathways for the healing of pain. Without your tears, you have separated your body from your soul—and without the other, YOU HAVE NO LIGHT.”
“I don’t have no light ?” Red Daddy Kali asked, needing a moment to figure things out. “Naw, that’s impossible. I am the general of the Red Light. I am around light all the time, I work with the light—I’M IN CHARGE OF THE LIGHT!! How can I not have any light for myself?”
“If you have light, then create a shadow,” Midnight said ever so gently.
“That’s easy!” exclaimed Red Daddy Kali.
And it was both funny and sad to watch Red Daddy Kali scrambling around from object to object, high ones and low ones, big ones and small ones, red ones and green ones, trying to cast a shadow on everything he saw. The shoes on his feet, the grass in the field, the rocks on the ground, the fish in the river and even the stars in the sky.
But it was true; Red Daddy Kali did not have any light.
“Tell me how to fix this!” he yelled, so very frustrated. Every Shinan walked in the light, whether it was the red light, the blue light, the green light or the yellow light. And nobody, especially not a General, could be without light. It would be like being without your soul, you would just be empty. And Red Daddy Kali had just realized that he was empty.

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