← Sleep Tight Stories - Bedtime Stories for Kids
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Sarah
Hello friends and welcome to Sleept Stories. Sarah is a girl who does not like being short. She asks her mother if she will always be short and her mother says she is just a late bloomer. Sarah works on some art for school while her mother hangs a new painting she got. It is a dragon and while Sarah is working on her art, she is sure she sees it Moving out of the corner of her eye, Sarah meets Sparky the Dragon. Thump thump thump. Not quite standing on her tippy toes, Sarah placed some heavy books on the dining room table chair. Mom, why am I the shortest girl in the universe? Sarah said as she went back into the living room to get more of those thick art books her mother and father liked to read. Sarah thought they were boring. Who would want to look at black and white photos in a book? Sarah, you are not short, you are just a late bloomer. Her mother used to give long explanations about how Sarah would soon grow but after being asked the same question a thousand times. Even her patience for Sarah's constant questions had limits. But Lenny at school says I am vertically challenged and I am always the last person to be picked when they need players for the basketball team. Sarah said as she was getting the table ready with the materials she was going to use. I thought you liked playing soccer. Her mother said trying to change the topic. They both often talked to each other as they did different things. Sara finally got her seat just right. She was going to do some art for an hour or so before her mother forced her to go grocery shopping with her. Why can Daddy go out and do exciting stuff but I have to go buy boring groceries? She thought. Yeah, but I don't always have a choice. Daddy said I should just run between the other player's legs and then to pass it to a teammate. I think he was trying to be funny because I tried that and they just closed their legs on my head. Sarah said as she started to cut red paper after she climbed up on her chair trying not to laugh. Sarah's mother replied, what are you making this afternoon? Well in school we are preparing for like a hundred different holidays this month we were asked to create some decorations for school. So I am combining Valentine's Day and the lunar holiday into one to save time. I think I will make some kind of heart shaped lantern. Lenny said he was going to give me a valentine but I am not going to make him one that's too mushy. But if he wants to buy me chocolate I would eat them. Don't forget we are going to go for groceries Today I'm just going to put up some new paintings I bought. Maybe we can make some special dishes tonight for dinner if I can find the ingredients. Her mother said as she hung some of the paintings with Chinese characters on them up in the dining room. Mom, if the moon were made of mooncakes, do you think a giant could eat it all in one bite or would it need moon milk to wash it down? Sarah asked as she cut more hearts out of paper. Her mother loved Sarah's imagination and laughed softly. Oh Sarah, you have quite an imagination. She replied as she unwrapped a huge frame with a colorful painting on the inside. Sarah looked at what she had made so far and thought of starting over again. It wasn't what she imagined it would look like. Her imagination was always way ahead of her hands. She thought she might have the best imagination in the whole school if only she could imagine better math grades. What about if the moon was made of cheese? Would moon rabbits have a never ending supply of cheese to eat? Sarah asked with a serious look on her face. I think if the moon were made of cheese, the moon rabbits would be the happiest creatures in the universe. She replied not quite paying attention as she hung the huge painting on the wall. Not bothered by her mother not giving her her full attention, Sarah asked, if dragons breathe fire, how do they blow out their birthday candles without causing a fireworks show? Perhaps they have a special way of gently whispering their wishes to the flames so they flicker out in a puff of magic smoke. Her mother suggested stepping back to admire the painting of a dragon that now hung in their dining room. What do you think? Did I hang it straight? Her mother asked. Is that a dragon? It looks so big. I guess the frame looks straight, but I have another question. Her mother sighed. What question? If you hang the dragon painting upside down, will the dragon learn to walk on its hands or would it fall out of the pitcher? I think it might walk out of the pitcher and eat all the cookies you have on your plate. Her mother said laughing. The dragon is not allowed Mom. Sarah said as she took a cookie in her mouth and covered the rest. Sarah reserved the word mom for when she was serious. Paper and glue wasn't really Sarah's favorite thing. She preferred to get lost in a book or maybe paint. Mostly she just liked asking questions and daydreaming about the answers. She was sitting there staring off into space, almost finished with her first heart shaped lantern, which wasn't really heart shaped or a lantern, when she noticed a slight, almost imperceptible movement in the corner of her eye. The dragon in the painting seemed to twitch. Just a whisker, just a scale, but but enough to break Sarah from her daydream. Mom, she called out, her voice full of its usual curiosity. Did you see that? The dragon in the painting moved. Her mother, done with hanging paintings, now busy packing away the rest of the clean dishes, paused to glance at the painting moved. Oh, Sarah, maybe it's just the light changing or your imagination playing tricks on you, she said with a smile. Unconvinced but momentarily distracted by her mother's suggestion, Sarah returned to her art, though her eyes flickered back to the painting every so often, searching for another glimpse of movement. It's just my eyes playing tricks on me, she thought. After they returned from their boring grocery run, Sara looked again at the painting. She was certain the dragon's position had changed just a little bit, but it was certainly different from when they had left. Its head seemed to be tilted more towards the room, as if it had been watching the door, waiting. Mom, are you sure this dragon doesn't move? Sarah said, pointing at the painting. I think the dragon looks different than before. Is it like some kind of computer screen or something? Her mother, looking at the painting, laughed softly. Maybe the dragon's just as excited about our big dinner as we are, she teased, setting the groceries down. Why don't you finish up your project while I start making dinner? Daddy will be home soon and he will be excited to see what you have created. Sarah didn't understand her mother's sudden fascination with the lunar holiday. She had been spending more time lately trying to understand her past, reading old books and looking at even more black and white photographs, Sarah thought Valentine's and Easter were more interesting because, well, chocolate. That night, after eating their big dinner with too many green vegetables and not enough sweet treats for Sarah's taste, Sarah lay in bed daydreaming. Or was it night dreaming? She wasn't sure what you called it at night. She had just finished her book about a magical princess with superpowers that saved a prince, and then she went off into the sunset with a Labrador retriever. Sara wanted a dog, too, but her father said maybe later. Maybe later was his way of saying no. Getting out of bed, Sarah felt really thirsty. Too much soy sauce and not enough sugar. She slowly walked out of her bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen for a drink of water. The house was quiet, with only the loud snores of her father and their old refrigerator making any sound. Sometimes her father's snores caused the windows to rattle. Sarah used to ask him many questions about snores until one day he gave her his I am watching hockey on TV look. And then she stopped. Why people snored was still a mystery to Sarah. As she walked through the dining room, Sarah couldn't resist a look at the painting. What she saw almost made her jump out of her skin. She'd heard her grandmother say that once. It sounds gross, so she uses it all the time. Now her grandmother has answers to all of her questions. And she makes delicious apple pie, too. What Sarah saw was the dragon moving. It was truly moving this time, its scale shimmering in one of those auto lights that Daddy put everywhere. Sarah froze as she watched the dragon in the painting lift a paw, then another, stretching and flexing as if waking from a long, deep sleep. Hello, Sarah, a deep, friendly sounding voice said, breaking the silence in the quiet house. Huh? Sarah pinched her cheek and it hurt. If you pinch your cheek and it hurts, you can't be dreaming, right? As she stood there, not really sure if she should speak or maybe run and hide, the dragon stepped completely out of the painting and into her dining room. Its size was no larger than a Labrador retriever. I apologize if I scared you. I am Sparky, and I have been waiting for the right moment to meet you. Sarah closed her eyes and opened them again. The dragon was still there. This must be some special painting, she thought. Did her mother buy a hologram by mistake? The shock was now over and she decided to try and talk. You're real. Really real, she whispered, her voice not quite sure yet of what she was seeing. And you can talk? Yes, to both, sparky replied, a hint of amusement in his tone. If this is a hologram, it must be from the future. I am as real as the magic that fills the world around us, and I have much to share with you, Sarah. But first, tell me, do you believe in magic? Sarah thought for a moment. It must be real. This was better than any story she had ever read, or even the movie that her mother had made them watch earlier. She nodded. Yes, I do believe in magic. Sort of. Then we can have some fun together, sparky said, stepping closer. There is so much fun we can have together, and I am sure we will be best friends. Sparky's scales started to glow and Sarah smiled widely as they talked about what they were going to do next. And that is the end of this part. Good night. Sleep tight.