"Daddy... read me a bed time story"

"Daddy... read me a bed time story"

Robin Foale, 5/6/2013 

"Daddy... read me a bed time story." The boy with blond hair in the bed asked his father standing by the window.

Sighing the man turns with sleep deprived eyes and gives a weak smile. 

"Sure thing son," he says with a hoarse voice before limping to the bookcase blocking the door. 

His eyes squint in the darkness as he picks out a book of fairy tales, only to put it back with a sigh. 

Rubbing the five o'clock shadow he has been growing for the last couple of days, he turns to face his son.

"Tell you what son... how about a new story?" 
The child's eyes light up with excitement, "Completely new?" 

"Yea... never heard before. You will be the first person to ever hear it."

"Wow! Really!?"

"Really really..." 

Suddenly a loud banging is heard downstairs which causes the hairs to rise on the back of the father's neck. 

"Are they back daddy?" The boy says with a whisper, pulling the covers over himself. 

Clearing his throat the father sits on the bed and strokes his son's head. 

"It's ok son... its ok..." he whispers reassuringly, despite clearly hearing the creaking of wood downstairs.

The father thinks hard before beginning his story. 

"Once upon a time there was... a prince. A prince with the most wonderful blond hair..." 

"Just like me!"

"Yea... just like you," he sighs as he hears the door caving in downstairs and the distinct sound of footsteps stumbling in.

"He ate anything he desired which included ice cream and burgers. As much as he wanted in fact!"

"This prince is different to me daddy."

"Huh? How's that?" the father asked confused.

"He's allowed to eat as much ice cream and burgers as he likes. Mummy doesn't allow me to. Says I would get fat!" the boy emphasises this by puffing out his cheeks.

"Ha! Well... well his kingdom was magical which meant he couldn't get fat."

"Cool! Burgers and ice cream all day!"

The father sighs with relief when his child laughs. It means the boy doesn't hear the vase smashing on the floor downstairs.

"He... he lived in a wonderful kingdom where he played with all his friends and family all day. It was always sunny and never rained." 

"Is that where mummy went?"  

The father stops when he hears this. The child's eyes stare at him, yet he has no answer. Fighting back tears he continues. 

"Ye... yes son. That's where she is."

"Can I go see her? I REALLY miss her daddy. Its been DAYS since I've seen her." 

"I know son... I know..." the father says sniffing as he hugs his son and kisses him on the forehead. 

He can hear the footsteps just down the hall outside the door now. Getting up, the father goes to the nearby cabinet and opens it.

"Wait dad! You haven't told me how the story ends!" 

Freezing the father breathes deeply, he doesn't have an answer for him.

"Dad?" the son asks with concern. He is about to step out of bed when the father turns around.

"I hadn't finished telling the story because... because it's one you get to finish in your... in your dreams," the father says weakly, trying his best to hold the smile on his face. 

"In my dreams?" 

"That's right! You now get to finish the story in your dreams where you are the prince."

Hearing this the child smiles. "Ha! I knew I was the prince! I knew it all along!"

"Well then... you're too clever to fool, that's for sure." 

The door bangs loudly. The son and father jump and look towards it, terrified. 

"Daddy..." the son whispers, eyes still on the door.

"It's ok son. Go to sleep. It's all just a bad dream."

"A bad dream?"

Taking out the box from the cabinet he stands above the bed and strokes the boy's head, brushing the hair away from his eyes. 

"Go to sleep. When you wake up you will be in the magical kingdom."

"Will mummy be there?" 

"Yes... mummy will be there. Now, go to sleep." 

The sound of the door splintering is heard as the father strokes his son's head and starts to whistle a song his mum used to sing to him. As he does so the father reaches into the box and pulls out a revolver. He opens the chamber of the gun and looks at the last bullet he has. 

"I love you daddy..." the son says happily closing his eyes. 

"I... I love you too son..." the father splutters hardly able to say the words as he pulls the gun up and aims it. 

The bookcase then collapses on the floor as a number of arms flail through cracks in the door. 

"I love you too..." the father repeats, firing the gun as the figures burst into the room. 

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Overall, I am very pleased with the story above as I feel the reader slowly discovers what is happening at a steady and realistic rate. The characters and environment are revealed to the reader, but, not in full detail so as to leave some mystery and speculation. And, most importantly (for me anyway), the ending is left unclear and therefore allows the reader to make up their own decisions about what happened and what the story was about as a whole. Overall a story that I am very pleased with and am glad that I had the time to write.