I awoke in my lab, to discover I had fallen asleep in my chair in front of my computer. I saw on the nearby wall clock that it was 3:45 in the morning. Never did I think my dear Mary would be the subject of a nightmare. I thought very hard about that dream. Perhaps I had been a little rough with my punishment on Mary. April Fool's Day only came once a year. And suddenly, I realized I had lied to my child. She had asked me earlier that previous day if I had ever played a prank. I remembered the cruel, but at the time fun trick I played on my father. I had fooled him into thinking that we had gold in our backyard at the mansion. And my evidence of this was a rock that I very carefully had painted gold. My father would never admit to his being rused for a few minutes by that. Thinking about that, I knew I owed my little one an apology. With this in mind, I quickly hurried to Mary's room.
I entered the young girl's room to find her slumbering away, moonlight shining over her from the window beside her bed. The covers were not over her, for she had fallen asleep on top of the bed in her uniform. An empty can of ginger ale and a plate that held a half-eaten piece of lemon cake stood atop her nightstand. I walked quietly over to the nightstand, and threw away the piece of lemon cake and ginger ale can. As I was completing this task, I heard a soft yawn, and turned to see Mary looking at me, sleepily.
"Father, is that you?"
"Yes it is me, my child."
"You, you're not expecting to get up and work for you right now, are you?"
She asked, almost wincingly.
"No, no, no Mary. I am here to tell you something extremely important. I am very sorry for putting you through all that labor this afternoon. Let me tell you a little story..."
I progressed into telling her the story of the rather ridiculous prank I played on my father. When I was done, she responded.
"Tee hee hee. Oh Father, see, even you got a little amusement out of a prank. Do I still have to work for you later today?"
"Only if you want to my child. I won't ever force you to do work like you did yesterday again. Now Mary, I will see you later in the morning. Until then, sweet dreams!"
After I said that, I retracted my neck downward, and gave her a kiss on her forehead. She gave me a kiss on the cheek, and said with a weak smile.
"Same to you Father. Good night."
"Good night Mary."
I patted her head, then left her to venture back into Dreamland.
I entered the young girl's room to find her slumbering away, moonlight shining over her from the window beside her bed. The covers were not over her, for she had fallen asleep on top of the bed in her uniform. An empty can of ginger ale and a plate that held a half-eaten piece of lemon cake stood atop her nightstand. I walked quietly over to the nightstand, and threw away the piece of lemon cake and ginger ale can. As I was completing this task, I heard a soft yawn, and turned to see Mary looking at me, sleepily.
"Father, is that you?"
"Yes it is me, my child."
"You, you're not expecting to get up and work for you right now, are you?"
She asked, almost wincingly.
"No, no, no Mary. I am here to tell you something extremely important. I am very sorry for putting you through all that labor this afternoon. Let me tell you a little story..."
I progressed into telling her the story of the rather ridiculous prank I played on my father. When I was done, she responded.
"Tee hee hee. Oh Father, see, even you got a little amusement out of a prank. Do I still have to work for you later today?"
"Only if you want to my child. I won't ever force you to do work like you did yesterday again. Now Mary, I will see you later in the morning. Until then, sweet dreams!"
After I said that, I retracted my neck downward, and gave her a kiss on her forehead. She gave me a kiss on the cheek, and said with a weak smile.
"Same to you Father. Good night."
"Good night Mary."
I patted her head, then left her to venture back into Dreamland.