Not quite a drabble, not quite a story. Not really a poem as there is neither rhyme nor meter. Call it a vignette, set in Buffy's early childhood. No spoilers, if you've seen the show. Nothing explicit, merely the suggestion of later events. Title comes from a little ditty my own mother used to sing while putting me to sleep. Thanks to Sofia, for encouraging me to post this, odd little thing that it is.

Joss Whedon is an evil god. But he's my favorite, because he likes fanfic. It would be profitless to sue me.

And Then I'll Go to Bed

"Mommy! Mommy, tell me a story!"
"Which book do you want, Buffy?"
"No! A real story!"
"Oh, well...'Once upon a time, a little blonde princess...'"
"No, Mommyyyy. A true story."
"Buffy, I don't understand."
"Tell me about love."
"About...love?"

And so mother tells daughter about love.
She tells of warmth and of comfort and of safety.
She speaks of joy and of baby toes and picnics.
She describes what she knows of faith and hope and trust.
Of roses, pink and white and red.
To be fair, she mentions duty and worry.
She glosses over heat and need and gain.
She neglects pain and loss and obsession
as well as the shades of tears.
And it is in keeping with her mother love that she does this.
For what would her little princess ever know of these?

She does not mention friction or burden or desire.
There is no thought of anguish or guilt or blood.
From Sunday School, she remembers patience and kindness and always.
But Saturday Night never taught her of chains or cruelty or eternity.
And what she knows of danger, her child cannot need.
And what she remembers of fire, she ignores.
She has not yet learned of abandonment or forgiveness,
so she cannot speak of sunrise or ashes.

She thinks of mattresses, but not alleyways or altars.
She thinks of love-bites, but never bruises.
She thinks of nights and moonlight and red satin sheets,
but she is sure those are soft tales for other days.
She forgets, or does not know, that when Love comes riding its pale horse,
it is not always in knightly garb.

And you cannot blame her for that
as she tucks scented rainbow sheets around her little girl.