Sleep and Dreams- Two Very Short stories
THE STORY OF MRS SLEEP
It was 9.30 pm, well past bed time for Hamid. He was still wide awake. The tussle between him and his mother over his sleep was not won by anybody. In cricketing terms, it had been a draw!! Hamid was very much in bed, tucked-in nicely by his mother, but not asleep!
“Hamid, stop reading! You should sleep now. You have to get up early to go to school tomorrow!”
“But Ammi, Abba is still awake, reading a book!” Hamid argued.
“Yes, but children need more sleep. Abba is much older”.
“Who said that? ONLY I KNOW how much sleep I need?”Â
“Shush…put your book away, close your eyes and sleep”, Ammi persisted as Abba smiled listening to the conversation and then went back to his book.
“But Ammi……”
” No, Ammi Shammi….SLEEEEP!”
“Abba, why doesn’t Ammi understand that itâs hard to sleep at times! Ms Sleep may not be able to come as early as Ammis of the world desire! Maybe she has her own children to take care of! I do not see her anywhere in the room today!”
“So, you see Ms Sleep every day in the room before you go to sleep, do you?” Ammi exclaimed.
“Of course, I do! She is sitting on the window at times. Sometimes she is next to the lamp. She is even on my pillow often, trying to read my story but is usually too sleepy to read!! When she is sitting on the page of my book and smiling, I know itâs time to sleep!” Hamid said, wondering, what all he needs to explain to his parents!
“And what happens, if she sits on the page of your book and does not smile?” Ammi asked trying to keep her face stern but a big smile was struggling to peep out!Â
“Of course, if she doesn’t smile, she is not ready to come into my eyes. Sometimes she sits on the page and makes faces, scowls, winks which means she wants to play with me!”
“And why does she want to play with you?” Abba chimed in with a question.
“I don’t know for sure. Possibly because she did not get to play with her children that day. They might have gone to sleep early!”
“Enough, Hamid! Lights off now! GOOD NIGHT!” said Ammi laughing but trying to be serious.
So, lights were turned off and Hamidâs glasses were put on the side table along with the book. Ammi smiled in the dark, fondly caressing Hamid, he snuggled up to her but Ms Sleep was still missing. Hamid thought that like everybody, Ms Sleep can also get late. Sometimes she might even forget to come and a child can’t sleep at all. What if she is caught in some âtrafficâ like everybody else these days! Or her child may be unwell! Wasn’t Abida aunty next door saying yesterday that she had a sleepless night!Â
But will Ammi ever understand these simple things?!
************
A SHOP FOR DREAMSÂ
It was past bed time for Hamid and time to turn off the lights. But he was refusing to sleep even though he was very sleepy and was finding it hard to keep his eyes open.Â
âBeta you should sleep now! See Ms Sleep is sitting on the page you are reading and smiling!!â
âWhich page Ammi?â Hamid said mischievously!
âOn page 25, canât you see? She is giving you such a BIG smile!â Ammi played along.
Hamid looked at Ammi with a twinkle in her eyes and said: âBut Ammi I do not want to sleep? I am scared!â
âWhy are you scared, dearie?â Ammi asked kissing him on his cheek and cuddling him.
âI got a very scary dream last night. I might get it again!â Hamid argued.
âNo, youâll notâ! Ammi said confidently.
âHow do you know?â Hamid was not convinced.
âI knowâ, Ammi persisted.
âBut, HOW?â Hamid was still not convinced.
âBecause I bought you a very nice dream for tonight!â Ammi said as if revealing a BIG secret.
âYou bought me what? A nice dream? Where is it?â Hamid said smiling from ear-to-ear.
âItâs under your pillow and will come out ONLY when you sleep.â Ammi replied.
âTell me whatâs in the dream Ammi? Please! PLEASE!!â Hamid either needed more convincing or did not want to sleep!
âItâs an adventure dream in which you ride on a cloud and roam around in the sky, watching interesting places belowâ. Ammi said.
âBut I canât see anything in the night, Ammi!â Hamid refused to give up.
âNo, while its night now; it will be a bright sunny day in your dream. You will be able to see everythingâ. Ammi said and smiled.
âWhat if I fall from the cloud and hurt myself?â Hamid was not willing to give up so easily.Â
âNo, you wonât. I have bought the more expensive dream for hundred rupees, which ensures safe landing! The one that costs only fifty rupees does not guarantee safe landingâ, Ammi said.
âAmmi, does that shop have more dreams?â was Hamidâs next question.
âYes, it has lots of dreams.â Ammi responded.
âWhat kind of dreams Ammi?â Hamid got even more excited.
âI did not have the time to check them all. HmmmmâŠThere was a football match dream. The one in which you win the game was for two hundred rupees and only one hundred for the one in which you lose!â
âAnd yes, there were cricket game dreams too. The ones in which you make a lot of runs and take many wickets were more expensive than the oneâs in which you make less runs or take less wickets!!âÂ
âThatâs enough of dream talk! Now you sleep.â Ammi tried once again to make him sleep.
âOh! Thatâs great Ammi! Can I go and get dreams of my choice?â
âWhat dreams do you want?â Ammi asked.
âHmmmmâŠCan I go to the Lego Land in my dream? Are there dreams about Lego games?â
Hamid thought for a bit and said: âAre there Tintin dreams also?â
âAnd what about swimming dreams in which I do more laps than everybody else!â
âHmmmâŠand.. and.. Karate dreams where I am able to beat everybody.â
A..and yes, Guitar dreams where I play all the notes perfectly!!âÂ
Hamidâs mind was racing thinking about all kinds of lovely dreams!
But Ammi was keen to calm him down so that he can sleep:
âMay be there are dreams of that kind. We will go and see. You can pick your dreams but you need to learn to sleep early in order to enjoy your cloud dream fully. Otherwise, you will only see part of the dream.â
âIf you do not sleep now, I will not take you to that shop. I am turning off the lights nowâ.Â
Ammi was getting more and more amused but wanted Hamid to sleep and so removed his glasses and put it on the side table. And then switched-off the lamp. Â
âAmmi, can I ask you one last question? PLEASE, PLEASE!â Hamidâs curiosity was not satisfied.
âOk, last question. No more after this, okay!â Ammi relented.
âDoes that shop have a gadget that can ensure that I never see bad dreams?â asked Hamid.
Ammi was smiling in the dark as she combed Hamidâs hair with her fingers.
âHmmm no, there is no such gadget. But the shop keeper said that if kids do certain things, the chances are that they will not have bad dreamsâ
âWhat things Ammi?â Hamid asked.
âThere is a long list. I will get it for you!â Ammi wanted to finish the conversation.
âBut, PLEASE tell me a few!â Hamid asked eagerly.
âHmmâŠlet me try and rememberâŠâ
âOne, eat well!âÂ
âTwo, do not stay awake late at night watching movies, reading, or playing computer and mobile games!â
âThree, bathe properly and brush your teeth!â
âFour, do your homework regularly!â
âAnd, yes, most important, give a BIGG HUGG and lots of kisses to Ammi every day, especially before going to sleep.â Said Ammi, almost laughing.
Hamid hugged Ammi tightly and gave her lots of kisses. Closed his eyes and waited for Ms Sleep to enter his eyes and Mr Cloud to arrive for his âdream rideâ.
Note: These two short stories were originally written in May 2017. The idea was to create a series but that did not happen!Â