Bedtime Stories

Boom! She let out another giggle as the anthropomorphic nerf took another blaster bolt to the face, rocking back and forth a bit as she sat. Ooo! She knew this part, she knew this part so good she could repeat it word for word without even watching, and even do all the voices, because the voices were some of the best part.

               “That’s gotta burn,” she said with a snicker, following along with the nerf’s personal nemesis, Theodore the Tauntaun as he gave a glance to the ‘camera’, its exaggerated cartoon eyebrows giving a wiggle.

               It was hard not to feel bad for the nerf, though. Sure it was mean, and selfish, not wanting to share whatever it had right now, but still getting shot in the face with a blaster couldn’t have felt very nice, and that made it kind of sad. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t laugh when the same thing happened again in a few moments.

               Click. Her lips pulled down into a pout, arms crossing as she stared down the now blank screen. Shooting a look over her shoulder, she let out an exaggerated sigh when she saw that her bestest friend was playing invisible again.

               “Heeey,” she muttered in a whine few would have not considered annoying, “I was watching that! It was only gonna be on for a few more minutes, and then I was gonna go to bed.”

               Sleep. Now.

               The words echoed in her brain as they did when her friend had decided she didn’t want to be seen. Behind her she heard the buzz of the light as it was flicked on in the background. Sighing once more, Almaria rose from the floor, dragging her feet as she went where directed.

               Was this a good day?

               Now onto the usual questions for the evening. She gave a vague shrug. “I dunno. I guess,” she muttered in a dismissive tone.

               You promised not to lie to me.

               The water in the sink turned on, the facet turned by some unseen force, as she plucked her toothbrush out of the cup and began cleaning her mouth. “Em nawt lyeugh,” she said through the soap, giving another shrug. Spitting into the sink, she began the slow sulk to her room, frowning now, “I guess not. Somebody made fun of me again.”

               I told you to stop listening to them.

               “That’s haaaard,” she said, letting out yet another whine, “I’m always too big for stuff and people look at me weird and they’re all mean about stuff, and then they don’t care that they make me cry, and then they just get even more mean.”

               Do you want me to talk to them?

               “I dunno,” she said, now with a more withdrawn shrug, “Maybe.”

               We can talk to them tomorrow, if you want.

               Almaria bobbed her head, looking amongst the small cubes that lined one side of her room, before picking one up and setting it at the edge of her bed. Crawling in under the sheets, she felt the unseen presence slowly move the sheets under her, squirming playfully as it did. Once she saw that the cube had been picked up, she rested her head back, staring at the ceiling, trying to keep still, despite her excitement.

               Ah, this one. I enjoy this one.

               She gave another nod of the head, smiling wide. Blinking a few times, the smile faded as quickly as it had come. “Hey,” she muttered quietly into the empty air, the lamp in the room switching off.

               Yes.

               “Am I too old for stuff?”

               You can never be too old to do anything. People just like to think you are.

               The smile returned as she nodded once more, “Okay.”

               Now. Close your eyes, and listen.

               “Okay.”