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From: HMS Victor Victorian <victorvictorian@hushunomail.com>
Newsgroups: alt.fan.prettyboy
Subject: Innocence Chapter 8 Nigel Makes an Adjustment
Date: Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:23:51 -0700
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Chapter 8
Nigel Makes an Adjustment or Two
It had only been a week since all the difficulties had started, but to
Nigel it felt an eternity. From day to day he felt worse and worse,
and hadn't the slightest clue what misfortune might happen next. He
was depressed all Saturday, even that evening with Mummy and Daddy and
Claris, watching the tellie and eating ice cream. Bedtime was
approaching again, and he dreaded it.
But bedtime arrived nevertheless.
"Time for bed, son," Roger said with a smile, turning off the
television.
"Can I sleep with you and Mummy again?" Nigel asked, "Please, Daddy?"
"No, Nigel," Daddy replied firmly, "Now you've got your own bed. It's
Saturday, and I'm sure tonight will be better."
Nigel wasn't at all confident.
"Mummy," he implored, "Can I sleep with you again? I won't ever, ever
again. I promise!"
But Mummy simply smiled and shook her head.
with us when you have a bad dream?"
In desperation, Nigel glanced at Claris.
"You can bleeding forget that!" his sister warned. Nigel frowned and
crossed his arms in a sulk.
"Sweet heart," Mummy explained, "If you think you'll have nightmares,
you will. You've just got to decide that you're not going to have
them anymore. It's really up to you, dear."
Well, that seemed preposterous. To Nigel, nightmares were like
monkey this and monkey that."
"It doesn't work now," the boy lamented.
"Well, I'm sure if two people said it," Mummy proposed, "It would most
certainly work tonight."
"Good idea!" Daddy chimed in enthusiastically, "And you'll have no
more night scares!"
"Daddy can help you. He's very good at around bedtime," Angela
smiled, and then gave Roger a sly wink.
Roger simply heaved a sigh toward the ceiling.
"Oh, alright then," he muttered, "Come along, Nigel."
And they both climbed the stairs. After a preemptive stop at the
lavvie, they went into the bedroom. Nigel thought sleeping with Mummy
consuming. Daddy seemed to be a slow learner. Nigel had to repeatedly
instruct him how to recite the incantation exactly, just like Harry,
was buggering it all up.
"Oh, this is just silly," his father finally said, appearing both
exasperated and chagrined, "Can't you just go to sleep?"
Monkey's dirty underwear. Monkey's dirty underwear. Everybody's
going to stare. At Monkey's dirty underwear!
Clap, clap, clap-clap and clap!
"Well," Roger chuckled, "There it is, then. You're all set. No
spiders, no sock monkeys, no goblins or ghosts or trolls or bogeymen
"Daddy!" Nigel cried as he slipped under the covers, "You're scaring
me!"
"Good night, son," his father grinned, tucking him in tightly, "We can
do it again tomorrow night if you want."
And he turned off the lamp, closed the door to a sliver of light and
ambled down the hallway.
But as soon as Daddy's footsteps faded, Nigel switched the lamp back
was the one having the nightmares. Perhaps a few safety measures
would be in order. He got up and padded quietly around the room. He
gathered up all his metal toy soldiers and Pooh and all his stuffed
drawer and secured it with a stretchy pair of underpants. Jumping
back into bed, he arranged the toys all around him. To this
formidable troop, he added a fly swatter, in the event the spiders
returned, and his Indian bow and arrow, in case Sock Monkey somehow
got out of the dresser, and slid them under the covers next to him.
"I am the general. You are captain of the guard," Nigel intoned to
Pooh, "So you have to stay awake all night and guard the bed."
Which was no trouble, for Pooh never closed his eyes anyway.
Nigel clicked off the lamp and burrowed deep beneath the covers. He
recited his incantation once more for luck, and then clutched his
weapons with one hand and laid the other on Pooh to insure he stayed
put. With his defences thereby secured, Nigel drifted off to sleep.
either.
HMSVV Christmas Eve 2011
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