Sentenced to Bed

Posted: Tue, May 08 2012, 10:49 pm Post subject: Sentenced to Bed

Was dealing with DD earlier, who was having bedtime issues. I needed to let out the tension, and this little piece came out onto the paper. Tell me if you like! Smile

Constructive criticism about my style, or anything else, is also welcome.

Sentenced to Bed*

The child screamed. She wept, she howled. She all but burst in her violent grief. The precursor to this furied tempest? An innocent request to lie abed, an adjuration to sleep. Lest she miss the school bus, come morning. The vile criminal who so blasphemously dared thus to adjure? The child�s own mother, home at last from a long day in the office.

Night upon night, the scene repeated itself. It was not a pretty one. A pink-cheeked, freshly bathed, sleepy-eyed lass (that part WAS pretty), sentenced to bedtime, could not resign herself to sweet slumber. The refrain began: �I can�t fall asleeeeeeep.� Perhaps she expected Mother to banish her sleeplessness with the flourish of a magic wand. Alas, her hapless parent possessed no such miraculous instrument. She was unable to conjure so much as a simple pair of earplugs.

The trickle of complaints cascaded into a flood, and then a flood of tears. No, that is too delicate, too gentle a descriptor. We speak here of a typhoon. In plain, a tantrum. Upon which none of the mother�s increasingly , wildly desperate efforts had heretofore made the slightest imprint.

And now her mother knew, with a complete and pure knowledge, by the natural instinct imbued within that noble species of humankind we call mothers, exactly what she must do.

For tantrum-o�clock was a mere few ticks away from crying-to-sleep time.

And so, ever so sweetly, she bade her precious offspring good night, firmly shut the door (�NO! Mommy, it will be too DARK!�)�oops, switched the light on, THEN shut the door�removed the stray baby from his avid banging upon said door, and absconded in pursuit of some earplugs and a book.

Aaah, peace at last. Well, almost. The baby was, after all, as yet untrained in the sacred bedtime rites. But hopefully one day he would be trained. Please G-d, sooner rather than later.

*Based upon a real-life drama

Diamond Member Joined: Jan 14 2011 Posts: 2818

cute!

Moderator Joined: Jun 05 2011 Posts: 3392

You're very talented!
_________________
Visit HelpEllen.com whenever you shop at Amazon.com!

~complimentary ad for being a mod:)

Posted: Tue, May 08 2012, 11:02 pm Post subject: re: Sentenced to Bed

THANK YOU!!!! It means a lot to me. Smile

_________________
"Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."
- G.K. Chesterton

Gold Member Joined: Oct 08 2009 Posts: 1405

I loved it! That was a really enjoyable read; I wasn't expecting that! I love your style.

Posted: Tue, May 08 2012, 11:12 pm Post subject: Re: re: Sentenced to Bed

Posted: Tue, May 08 2012, 11:12 pm Post subject: re: Sentenced to Bed

Crush, just out of curiosity, what did you expect?

Diamond Member Joined: Jun 09 2009 Posts: 3328

Very cute and well written.

Gold Member Joined: Feb 05 2008 Posts: 2446 Location: UK

Very good! Thanks for reminding me that we all go through it!
_________________
Unfortunately, my daydreams about being skinny are always being interrrupted by the sound of my own chewing.

Gold Member Joined: Oct 08 2009 Posts: 1405