Sleeping Habits
Nighttime in the castle was the worst time of the day for Anna. Without Elsa in the room with her the young girl had a hard time falling asleep. She was always terrified of the dark. Even when she was a baby, she would immediately start screeching if anyone left her in a dark room for more than a minute. The only thing that would calm her down was Elsa singing to her.
As Anna got older and her fear only got worse. It got to the point that every single night Anna would crawl into bed with Elsa. It would happen the same way every time, Elsa would read her favorite fairy tale to her, Hercules, Anna would fall asleep right at the part where Hercules meets Megara, Elsa would tuck her into bed, and then Elsa would climb into her own bed and fall asleep. But it only took about five minutes before Elsa would hear little feet padding across the wooden floor of their shared bedroom. She would feel the bed dip in beside her and a warm breath ghost across her face. Anna wouldn't have to say anything, Elsa would just smile and open her arms up for her sister to crawl in, and Anna would do just that.
And now that Anna was four years old and Elsa had her own room and constantly ignored her Anna was even more scared. Without Elsa's arms to snuggle up in when she was scared at night Anna became lonely too. And scared and lonely don't mix very well. So Anna got the idea that if Elsa wouldn't let her in her she would just sleep outside of her door. It was the closest she could get to the real thing.
So now here she was, gathering up her blankets, a pillow, and her Elsa doll after her parents had just said goodnight to here. She carefully opened up her bedroom door, peering into the dimly lit hallway. She opened the heavy door just enough to squeeze through and tip-toed to Elsa's door, her blanket dragging on the floor behind her. She spread her blanket out, laid her Elsa doll on top, and put her pillow into position before pressing her mouth against the door and whispering, "Goodnight Elsa. I love you,". And with that she laid down on the cold floor, pulling the soft, green blanket around her small body. She picked up her Elsa doll and hugged it close to her. At this point the real Elsa was standing in front of her door, her ear pressed against the hardwood. Her heart shattering at what she was hearing, it happened every night since she left and it killed her to not be able to throw open the door and take her sister into her arms.
"You'll never leave me like the real Elsa," Anna said sadly, sobbing quietly and clutching the small doll to her chest. Elsa let out a sigh, I didn't want to leave you, Anna, she thought. She peeped through the large key hole in the door to look at her sister. She wanted more than anything to help her sister, to hold her and tell her everything was okay. But all she did was wait until she could hear Anna's snores and then she opened up her door slowly, careful not to hit or wake the sleeping girl. She managed to push herself through the very tiny crack in the door. She cautiously scooped up Anna and wrapping her in the blanket, leaving the pillow behind, but making sure the Elsa doll was still resting on Anna's chest. The girl might have been small compared to herself, but she was not as light as one may think. Elsa struggled to keep the girl secured in her arms.
When she reached Anna's door she had to prop the girl's body up on her knee, while she twisted the silver knob open. The light from the hallway streamed into Anna's nearly pitch-black room, helping Elsa find her way to the young girl's bed. Once she reached the fluffy, green bed she carefully laid Anna down and then when back to the hall to collect the forgotten pillow. When she came back Anna had instinctively curled into a ball on her side. She smiled at the sight and set Anna's pillow on the floor, she had enough pillows on the bed already. She gently ran the back of her hand along Anna's soft cheek as a tear rolled out of her eye. Small flakes of snow started to whirl around in the air, her eyes widened at the sight and she knew it was time to leave.
"I'm so sorry it has to be this way," she said and pressed her lips gently onto her sister's forehead, "goodnight Anna, I love you too," Elsa slowly, quietly tiptoed towards the door, as she was about to exit the room something caught her eye. A doll just like the one Anna had of her, only it was of Anna. She walked to where it was lying on the floor and stared at it, she and Anna used to play with the dolls all the time. They had the best adventures together. The snow that was already flurrying around the room began to pick up as Elsa's emotions stirred about. She reached down and picked up the doll. Relishing in the feeling of it in her hands.
"I hope you don't mind if I take this, Anna." Elsa said quietly, and with that she opened the door and walked back to her room. The snow stopping as soon as the hard door slammed shut.
Anna woke up confused the next day, just like she was everyday. She wasn't sure how she got back into her own bed or why the floor was slightly damp or why her doll was missing. But she didn't care, she slept outside of Elsa's room the next night and the next night and every night after that.
