A shortcut through the dark is still dark the whole way.

Cutting the distance does not remove the difficulty, it only compresses it. People pick the faster route expecting it to be easier and then discover that the hard part was never the length, it was the conditions. Knowing that in advance is the difference between being disappointed halfway and being prepared.

When you choose a quicker path, choose it for the time and not for the comfort. Bring what you would have brought for the long way, and expect to be uneasy for most of it. Then keep walking, since a short dark stretch is still shorter than a long one.