Thunder rumbled in the sky, awakening a young Asian girl who had been sleeping peacefully. Her room was pitch dark, and as much as she hated to admit it, she was terrified. Every sound could be a scary monster coming after her. Her heart pounded. Suddenly, another deep grumble filled the air. She could hear someone crying in the room next to her.
It was her little brother, Li Xiao Chun.
The girl smiled as she slowly pieced together a brilliant plan. She could go to her brother's room under the pretense that she was concerned about him, while in reality she would be taking comfort in being with another person. She quietly slinked out of her bed, creeped down the hallway and opened her brother's door. To her surprise, the room was dimly lit with a lantern.
"Hello, big sis..." her brother greeted. "Can't sleep? Or are you scared of the thunder?"
"It's not like that," she protested. "I heard you crying earlier, so I just wanted to check in on you."
"That wasn't me," he protested, keeping a completely straight face. "It was Imyong." He pointed to a shaking lump covered in blankets next to him.
"Oh," she said softly. This wasn't quite turning out to be what she planned, but the presence of her brother and cousin was better than being alone.
"Yeah...if you can't sleep, you're totally welcome to join the party."
A few moments later, she was snuggled next to her brother.
"Hey, you two?" she asked, still wide-awake.
"What is it, Xiao Mei?" her brother replied immediately.
"I-i-if you want to tell a ghost story...I-I'm t-t-t-totally not afraid!" Imyong stuttered.
"It's not a ghost story," Xiao Mei reassured. "It's just...I heard that in some other countries, they'll count sheep if they can't sleep."
"Count sheep?" It was the first time both Xiao Chun and Imyong had heard of such a thing.
"Yeah, that's right. Do you guys want to try?"
Xiao Chun and Imyong both thought for a while.
"Sure, why not." Xiao Chun shrugged.
Imyong peeped out from his blankets. "Better than a ghost story..."
Xiao Mei smiled. "Here goes: One sheep. Two sheep. Three sheep. Four sheep. Five sheep. Six sheep. Seven sheep. Eight sheep. Nine sheep. Ten sheep. Now, how was that?"
Xiao Chun and Imyong stared at her blankly. "Is that supposed to bore us to sleep or something?" her brother wondered aloud.
"Such a strange method...it didn't come from my place at all!" Imyong agreed.
"Hey...," Xiao Mei was indignant. "I heard that you have to at least get to thirty before you start getting sleepy. Let's give it another try, okay?"
The two boys groaned, but didn't protest. In a more soothing voice, she tried again. "Eleven sheep. Twelve sheep. Thirteen sheep. Fourteen sheep. Fifteen sheep. Sixteen sheep. Seventeen sheep. Eighteen sheep. Nineteen sheep. Twenty sheep. Feeling tired now?"
"Well...maybe a little..." her brother yawned.
"Perhaps it did come from my place after all..." Imyong nodded.
"Good. I'm going to go to thirty now, alright?"
The two boys expressed their agreement.
"Okay...Twenty-one sheep. Twenty-two sheep. Twenty-three sheep. Twenty-four shee-" Without warning, a bolt of lightning streaked the sky, accompanied by a loud clap of thunder. Imyong screamed and buried himself in the blankets again. Footsteps could be heard in the hallway, and then the door was flung open. Xiao Mei almost screamed herself before realizing it was her other cousin, Kiku Honda.
"I heard screaming...what happened?" Kiku asked in a calm voice.
"Aniki!" Imyong flung himself at the older boy. "There was thunder a-and I was so scared!"
"A-ah...I see...," Kiku said, gently patting the child. "Why are all of you gathered in Li Xiao Chun's room?"
"Who knows?" Xiao Chun yawned. "Xiao Mei was counting sheep for us or something like that."
"Counting sheep?" Kiku raised his eyebrows.
"Y-yeah...I heard about it somewhere, and we should try it out..." Xiao Mei responded sheepishly.
"Did it work?"
"Sort of..."
"Alright then," Kiku turned his attention back to the trembling five-year-old clinging to him. "Imyong, why don't you get back in bed? I'm going to count sheep for all of you."
"Really? You'd do that?" Imyong immediately cheered up. He happily climbed back in bed next to Li Xiao Chun.
"Xiao Mei, you've done a good job. I'll take over now."
"But, don't you have to wake up early tomorrow? It's already...," she checked a nearby clock. "10:32..."
Kiku chuckled. "That's only late by your standards. I have a couple minutes to spare."
"Well...if you insist..." She hesitantly cuddled next to her brother again.
"I'll just start over. One sheep. Two sheep. Three sheep. Four sheep. Five sheep. Six sheep. Seven sheep. Eight sheep. Nine sheep. Ten sheep."
Kiku paused for a few moments. The children did not sound, although they were still awake.
"Eleven sheep. Twelve sheep. Thirteen sheep. Fourteen sheep. Fifteen sheep. Sixteen sheep. Seventeen sheep. Eighteen sheep. Nineteen sheep. Twenty sheep." Imyong was already dozing off, and Xiao Chun was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.
"Twenty-one sheep. Twenty-two sheep. Twenty-three sheep. Twenty-four sheep. Twenty-five sheep. Twenty-six sheep. Twenty-seven sheep. Twenty-eight sheep. Twenty-nine sheep. Thirty sheep." The two boys were already asleep, and Xiao Mei was losing the battle to stay awake as well.
"Thirty-one sheep. Thirty-two sheep. Thirty-three sheep. Thirty-four sheep. Thirty-five sheep. Thirty-six sheep. Thirty-seven sheep. Thirty-eight sheep. Thirty-nine sheep. Forty sheep." All of them were in dreamland.
"Goodnight, everyone," Kiku whispered as he headed towards the door.
"Goodnight...Kiku..." Xiao Mei murmured. Kiku smiled and left the room, leaving the trio to their own devices.