The lights went out, and something beneath my son’s bed stopped me cold. In the narrow beam of my phone, several pointed shapes emerged from the darkness, unfamiliar enough that I refused to reach for them. When my son came closer, neither of us recognized what we were seeing, but a different angle would finally reveal the unexpected trut…
The neighborhood had gone dark shortly after sunset, leaving our home without its familiar lights and background hum.
While checking on my son upstairs, I spotted an oddly shaped object partly hidden beneath his bed.
Rather than grab something I couldn’t identify, I shifted my phone’s flashlight and cleared away nearby items.
Gradually, the alarming outline became easier to understand: it was a forgotten piece of a children’s toy.
The apparent spikes were molded connectors, designed to fit other pieces.
