It was a dark and stormy night. Iolaus pressed his nose against the rain-lashed windowpane and peered out. The brunt of the storm had passed and only an occasional flash of faraway lightning lit the sky.

"Perfect."

"I'm not going out there."

"C'mon, Herc."

"No."

"Herc�"

"Okay, okay." Hercules climbed reluctantly off the bed. "But if I get ate by a monster, it'll be your fault."

Iolaus pushed open the window and propped one leg over the sill. "There's no such thing as monsters."

"Yeah, right."

The two boys crept across the yard. Ahead, briefly illuminated by lightning, the woods loomed, dark, forbidding.

"To the treehouse and back. That's all. Right, Iolaus?"

"Right."

Once into the woods, they were partially sheltered from the rain, but the lightning did little to light their surrounding, only serving to darken the shadows beneath the trees.

"Hey, don't go walking in the spooky old woods alone." Iolaus sang, a little off-key.

"Cut that out."

"Scared?"

"No." Hercules lied, "but a wolf or a bear might hear you."

"Hah. What would a wolf or a bear be doing out on a night like this?"

"What are we doing out on a night like this?"

Hercules' heart leaped into his throat at a rustling in the bushes and the sound of scurrying feet scrambling through the undergrowth. He moved closer to Iolaus

"What's that?"

"I don't know." Iolaus replied calmly, "but it was going in the opposite direction from us. Do you want me to hold your hand?"

"Okay." Five-year-old Hercules slid his large, chubby hand into Iolaus' small, thin one.

"Better?"

"Yeah."

The boys trod carefully along the dark path. Hercules relaxed a bit, Iolaus' warm hand in his. Iolaus wasn't afraid and Hercules was beginning to suspect there wasn't really much to be afraid of, when a loud, strange, sound from the treetops made him nearly jump out of his skin. He stopped, gripping Iolaus' hand tighter.

"Iolaus?" His voice quavered.

"It's just an owl, Herc Let go, you're squishing my hand."

"Sorry." Hercules loosened his grip, but refused to relinquish Iolaus' hand

They soon reached the lake and the big tree where the boys had built their fort. Iolaus dropped Hercules' hand and began to climb the rough ladder pegged to the tree trunk.

"Aren't we going back?" Hercules asked, alarmed.

"Soon."

"If mother finds us gone, we're gonna catch heck."

But Hercules followed his friend up the ladder and they settled themselves comfortablv on the treehouse floor. For long while they sat, listening to the patter of the rain on the roof.

Hercules finally broke the silence. "I still don't know why we're doing this."

"I told ya why."

"I know, but�."

"Listen, Herc. The dark isn't nothing to be scared of."

"That's what you said, but I'm still scared."

Iolaus.looked at his friend solemnly from under his tangled curls. "There's lotsa stuff to be more afraid of than the dark. Sure there's dan'grous animals and you gotta know how to pertect yourself, but there's people lots scarier than anything that lives in the woods."

Hercules thought that over while Iolaus gazed out over the lake. The rain had stopped. The dark clouds had scattered and the moon bathed the world with silvery light. In the high branches of their tree, twittering night birds shook raindrops from their wings. A gentle breeze ruffled the surface of the water.

"I come down here a lot at night." Iolaus said

"You do? By yourself?" Hercules stared disbelievingly at his friend.

Iolaus nodded. "Yeah, 'Specially when my dad's home." Iolaus stood up, signaling it was time to go home.

Hand in hand they walked lazily back along the path; moonlight washing down through the trees lighting their way. Hercules sniffed the sweet night air. Little creatures scuttling through the brush left him curiously unafraid and when the owl hooted, it sounded like an old familiar friend. Even when the sobbing cry of a loon reached them from the lake, he started only momentarily and then laughed.

"Maybe mother will let us camp all night at the lake sometime."

"Ya think?" Iolaus hid his grin.

Upon reaching the house, they crept quietly through the door and across the dark kitchen. Iolaus was about to follow his friend into their bedroom when Alcmene's door opened and she peeked out. Iolaus smiled at her, gave her a wink and a thumbs up.

She smiled.

The End

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