Chapter 6
Spiders
That night, Nigel lay in bed, clutching Pooh, the covers pulled up to
his chin and the bed lamp lit. Evan was ruined. Mrs. Ethridge had
said so. And Nigel believed it. He certainly acted ruined. Lying
there, Nigel fretted over whether he'd been ruined, too. Before long,
Daddy came in to give him a goodnight kiss.
"Are you sick?" he asked, seeing his boy's face, "Nigel?"
Nigel simply hugged Pooh tighter, slid further down in the sheets, and
shook his head vigorously.
kiss, "If you need us, let us know, son. Goodnight."
And he switched off the lamp. Almost immediately, Nigel switched it
back on.
"Now what?" Daddy asked.
"Can I have a glass of water?" the boy asked, "Please?"
"Are you sure? You'll have to get up to pee later."
Nigel nodded vigorously again, and when Daddy brought him the water,
he sipped from the glass at an excruciatingly slow rate. As he
dabbled in the water, he peered up at Daddy from over the rim. Daddy
was getting impatient.
"Hurry up now," Daddy sighed wearily, "Any slower and it'll start
coming out before you've got it all in! Time for bed."
Nigel reluctantly swallowed the last drop and held the glass out.
Roger took it.
"Sweet dreams," he said, and switched off the lamp again.
"Now you know I'll leave the door open some and the hall light lit,"
Daddy frowned and he began to close the door, "Go to sleep. There's
nothing to be frightened of."
Nigel reached over and switched the lamp back on again.
water and you've got Pooh and we're right down the hall if you need
"Don't close the door all the way!"
Roger rolled his eyes as he closed the door to a sliver of light, and
then walked down the hall. Nigel could vaguely hear him talking to
children to hear, but he couldn't make out the words. So he lay there
in the dark, afraid to look around because he knew, in the dark, fears
sprang to life.
And they did. Something spindly was sitting on his dresser. Something
was skittering across the ceiling. Something was perched squatting
just inside the wardrobe.
Nigel burrowed under the covers and began urgently reciting his
incantation.
Monkey's Dirty Underwear. Monkey's Dirty Underwear. Everybody's
going to stare, at Monkey's Dirty Underwear!
And he said it again and again and again, until exhausted he nodded
off.
But the incantation didn't do any good at all and he awoke with a
start.
Nigel sat up, his pulse racing, and put his hands down to catapult
pyjama trousers. He'd wet himself.
He stripped his pyjama bottoms off, flung them on the floor, and then
burst out through the bedroom door and ran down the dark hall towards
his parents' room.
"Spiders!" he cried, "Daddy! Spiders!"
Claris was the first to open a door. As she stepped out, Nigel ran
right into her.
"Nigel!" Claris said, and grabbed him, "Wake up! It's just a
nightmare."
Across the hall, the door swung open and both Angela and Roger
appeared, looking befuddled as they did up their robes.
"What the blazes?" Daddy exclaimed.
"He had a dream about spiders," Claris explained, cradling the boy's
head against her chest.
beastly! I loathe spiders!"
"Me, too! Can I sleep with you and Daddy?" Nigel begged, wiping his
eyes.
"Certainly, sweet heart," Angela calmed, "You can sleep between Daddy
and me for tonight and there'll be no more spiders."
So Nigel did, and there were no more spiders.
HMSVV Christmas 2011
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