For the sfx, maybe make it look kind of malevolent at first? Is that possible for "splsh! splsh!"?
1 - A house in the suburbs. Nighttime. A pool is in the backyard, but no more details can be made out as the lights are out. Lots of darkness and shadow.
SFX: splsh! splsh!
CHILD (tailless): What was that?
CAPTION: Nightfall changes the world.
MOTHER: Don't worry. I'm sure it's nothing.
CHILD: ...
CAPTION: Any child can tell you that.
3 - Outside. Bird's eye view focused on the door at the back of the house. The mother has walked out, holding a bat and a flashlight - the flashlight is not yet on. The shadows of the backyard remain large and looming, the pool an inky black mass that yields no answers.
SFX: splsh! splsh!
CAPTION: It transforms the familiar into the unknown.
4 - The mother walks towards the pool (and the reader), her flashlight now on and directed towards the reader (with a kind of white, brilliant washout effect - illuminating the world, but also hiding it for the moment).
CAPTION: Even when you know better, it's hard not to expect the worst.
MOTHER: W-who's there?
5 - Thin / small white panel with nothing but a single word written on it.
CAPTION: Fortunately
6 - Reveal. The pool has a small family of ducks that has landed for the night. The mother and child are taking some time to feed them bread and look happy as clams (as do the ducks). Maybe have a few more lights to illuminate the scene, but the darkness should still be around in some capacity. If we found a way to make the "splsh! splsh!" unsettling, perhaps revert to something more neutral / positive.
SFX: splsh! splsh!
CAPTION: It's never as bad as you think.
