"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Mr. Peabody jolted awake. Without wasting a second, he ran straight to Sherman's room.
"What is it? Fire? Robber? Are you hurt?" he yelled, grabbing the nearest object to him, which of course was one of Sherman's many history books and flipping on the lights.
Sherman couldn't respond right away. Mr. Peabody turned toward him to see that he was breathing heavily, so heavily he couldn't speak.
"Sherman! What happened?" Mr. Peabody said, rushing to his bed and abandoning his "weapon." He quickly sat down next to his boy. Before he could say anything he found Sherman's head in his lap and tears pouring out of his eyes.
"I…I tried to stop it, but…..but I just couldn't," Sherman managed to get out through his sobs.
Mr. Peabody didn't know what to do. He put his hand on his boy's head and stroked his hair, much like a boy would pet a dog.
"There, there, calm down Sherman. I can't understand you when you talk like that. Just take a deep breath," the dog said, trying to say it in a soothing voice.
Sherman tried to calm down, but he couldn't do it all the way. Finally he was able to sit up, but he still leaned on his father's shoulder, and a few tears still slipped down his face.
"I'm sorry Mr. Peabody," he finally said, "It was just so real."
"So it was a nightmare," Mr. Peabody said aloud. "Did you know that even I used to have nightmares?" The dog was trying to get the boy's mind off the dream.
Sherman took the bait. He wiped his eyes and sat up all the way. "Really Mr. Peabody?"
Mr. Peabody smiled. "Yes, when I was little, I would have nightmares all the time. They were really scary. When they happened, my mother would come in and calm me down. And do you know what she would do next?"
"No, Mr. Peabody," Sherman told the dog, his voice already sounding a little more normal.
"She would…tickle me!" Mr. Peabody suddenly screamed. He jumped up and attacked Sherman.
"Nooooooooooo!" Sherman yelled, giggling and squirming. "Stop it, Mr. Peabody! Pleeeeaaasssee!"
"Are you not scared anymore?" the dog asked the child grinning.
"Yessss!" he yelled, his face breaking into the biggest smile you can imagine.
Finally Mr. Peabody stopped. The two took deep breaths, for tickling and getting tickled was a very hard job. Mr. Peabody got up and sat back next to Sherman.
"Is that really true, Mr. Peabody?" Sherman asked him after a while.
"Honestly, no, but I couldn't help myself," Mr. Peabody said with a laugh.
"I'm glad you did it, Mr. Peabody," Sherman said, laughing a little to.
They sat there for a few more minutes.
"Should I go back to bed now, or would you whether I stay here with you?" he asked Sherman after a while.
Sherman thought for a moment, and then smiled at his father and spoke. "It's OK, Mr. Peabody. You already helped me enough."
Mr. Peabody smiled and got up. He helped Sherman get in his bed and tucked him in. He stroked his hair once and handed Sherman his Teddy Bear.
"Goodnight, Sherman. If you need me, I'll be right down the hall."
With that, he turned out the lights and was about to close the door.
"Wait!" Sherman suddenly yelled. Mr. Peabody instantly turned around to see what he wanted. "Thank you, Mr. Peabody."
"Thank you Sherman," Mr. Peabody replied.
