Easton's Good Night
A Sprout fanfic
By Madeline Fretz
It was a beautiful night in the Sprout Hills, just like always - crickets chirping, (non-anthropomorphic) owls hooting, Sproutlets getting ready for bed, and Easton getting ready for his very first sleepover.
Wait … that last part doesn't sound right!
Well, as I was saying, Easton was going to a sleepover with his best friend Patty Pig. It all started when Easton's mom was dropping him off at Patty's house. "Are you going to be fine staying over with Patty?" she asked.
"Sure mom." smiled Easton.
"Well good. Call me if you need me." Easton's mom told her son, and with that she was off.
"Bye!" Easton waved goodbye and rang the doorbell. Patty opened it. "Oh hey, you're here!" the porcine singer greeted.
"You bet I am!" Easton replied as the two walked inside, "So what should we do first?"
"Hmm … how about we play a game of Tic-Tac-Toe?" suggested Patty.
"Oh yeah, a friend in my old neighborhood taught me that game!" Easton commented.
"Alright, then Tic-Tac-Toe it is, let's do it!"
After a while, the two friends were on the living room floor with a piece of paper with criss-crossing lines and an O on the middle-left tile.
"Okay Pat, to play this game, you have to draw an X or an O in each tile." Easton explained.
"Which letter do you like better?" Patty asked.
"Oh, my favorite letter is E because it starts my name, Easton."
"No Easton, which letter do you prefer - X or O?"
"I like the letter X, so I'm going to draw that first." Easton replied, and so he drew an X on the top right tile … or at least he tried to. That's because his purple crayon broke in half before he could start drawing.
Easton gasped. "Oh no, my crayon broke!" He was about to throw a fit, common for the autistic kind, but he remembered what happened when he was playing a game with Nina and Star, and instead started yelling for Patty's mom. "Sharon!"
"What is it honey?" Sharon asked as she ran into the room.
"Well mom," Patty explained, "Easton here is sleeping over, and we're about to play Tic-Tac-Toe, but his crayon broke before he could draw an X."
"Yeah, and do you have another purple crayon I can use?" continued Easton.
"I'm sure I have one!" Sharon exclaimed, and so she looked in a drawer under the television and found a wide supply of crayons, including a purple one, which she finally handed to Easton. "Here you go Easton!"
"Thanks." the green caterpillar smiled, and so he and Patty continued with their game of Tic-Tac-Toe without anything going wrong. Easton hoped nothing else would go wrong for the rest of the night, but boy was he wrong!
A few minutes later, Easton and Patty put on their pajamas, brushed their teeth, and were about to get ready for bed. As Patty got situated in her sleeping bag and Easton on his floor mattress, the former told the latter that she had a great story for him.
"Ooh really, what's the story about?" wondered Easton.
"Well, this story is about a bat named Bartholomew," Patty explained, "But let's just call him Barty."
"Okay."
"Alright, lemme begin." Patty cleared her voice, and so she began the story, "Once a Sprout a time, there grew a big tree in the forest, and on that big tree lived a little bat named Bartholomew. There were no other bats in the forest - Bartholomew was the only one, but he wasn't completely alone - some porcupines lived in the forest too, and they invited Bartholomew to be a part of their family…"
"Wow, porcupines and bats, I've never seen that combination before!" Easton was mesmerized at what Patty said.
"Me too." Patty pointed out before continuing, "...But the porcupines' prickles were too prickly."
"And then what happened?" asked Easton.
"And then … " Patty said sleepily, "and then … then … then … then … then …"
Suddenly, before Easton knew it, his best friend was asleep.
"Patty, wake up, what happens to Barty next?" Easton tried shaking the orange-haired pig, before realizing something. "Oh wait, let sleepy friends sleep, that's what my grandfather told me." Just then, he yelled for Sharon again.
"What is it now Easton?" asked Sharon, running into the room.
"Well, Patty and I were reading a story, but she fell asleep before she could continue." the caterpillar explained.
"Well, what happened before she fell asleep?" questioned Sharon.
"Barty the Bat tried to live with some porcupines, but they were too prickly." Easton recalled.
"Okay, here's what I think happened next." Sharon replied, and she continued to tell the story. "And then a deer came by and saw Barty was alone, so he invited Barty to be part of his family, but deer like to sleep at night and play during the day, so that didn't work either."
"I see." Easton commented. "What happens next? What other animals did he try to live with?"
"Finally, Bartholomew came across some owls. The owls invited Bartholomew to be a part of their family - he could sleep on their cozy tree branch during the day and fly through the dark skies at night."
"Wow, that's cool!" Easton beamed, followed by a yawn.
"...And they all lived happily ever after, the end." Sharon finished, before noticing Easton asleep. "Goodnight Easton."
Patty's mother was about to head upstairs and go to bed, until Easton woke up yelling for her once more.
"Easton, our neighbors are asleep!" groaned Sharon.
"Well, we're not!"
"Okay," Sharon sighed, "What is it now?"
"Can I please have a water bottle?" requested Easton, "I can't sleep without one!"
"Well, we don't have a water bottle, but how about a plastic cup of water?" suggested Sharon.
"Okay." Easton replied, and so Sharon went off to get him a plastic cup and fill it with water, finally handing it to him. "Here you go Easton, some nice warm water coming right at you!"
"Thanks Sharon." Easton smiled as he drank the water (well, some of it) and proceeded to fall asleep.
Sharon thought Easton was asleep, but then he woke up again, "Ohh … Sharon!" the caterpillar called for his best friend's mom sleepily.
"Oh no, not again!"
"When I sleep in my bedroom at home, I always have three mobiles hanging from the ceiling to help me fall asleep." Easton explained, "Do you have something similar?"
"Oh sure, I think I do!" Sharon told Easton, and so she went upstairs and down again with a big purple button with a white moon and several stars on it, turning off the switch as she went back down to the living room. "See what this does!"
Easton pushed the button, and he saw a purple moon and stars projected from the ceiling, like a light show. "Wow, this is so cool!"
"I know, right?" Sharon commented, "Hopefully this will make you sleep better. I used this with Patty when she was little, and it worked like a charm."
"Okay, I'll give it a try." Easton nodded sleepily, followed by a sigh, He proceeded to close his eyes, then opened them back up again. "Sharon?"
"Yes Easton?"
"Can I have a lullaby?" Easton requested once again, "My mom always sings one to me as I fall asleep."
"Oh sure." Sharon replied, before singing to Easton.
Lullabye your cares away
Think good thoughts and good things will happen
Rest your mind and things will pass in time, I know they will
There's magic in the quiet times, they say
Take your troubles and your pain
All your worries and your blame
Take your life that's torn apart
And come with me
To a place I've come to know
In times like these I go
Inside of the quiet times again
Lullabye your cares away
Think good thoughts and good things will happen
Rest your mind and things will pass in time, I know they will
There's magic in the quiet times, they say
The old folks from the hills
Lived a life of peace and fortune
Not for money or for riches did they care
But for love good crops and blue skies
With a prayer of thanks and blessings
Far richer for the quiet times they shared
Lullabye your cares away
Think good thoughts and good things will happen
Rest your mind and things will pass in time, I know they will
There's magic in the quiet times, they say
Take a lesson from the world
It's a world too fast for dreamers
There are some things that a man could never change
Like the blowing of the wind, or the laughter of the children
Or knowing there's a quiet time to find your soul again
Lullabye your cares away
Think good thoughts and good things will happen
Rest your mind and things will pass in time, I know they will
There's magic in the quiet times, there's magic in the quiet times
There's magic in the quiet times, they say
"How's that for a lullaby Easton?" asked Sharon, "Easton?"
She noticed the caterpillar asleep, after drinking some water, listening to a relaxing lullaby, and with the comfort of a blanket and his best friend.
"Well, like I always say, works like a charm!" Sharon told herself, followed by a yawn. "Good night Patty, good night Easton."
And with that, she went upstairs to her room to get some sleep herself.
THE END
NOTE: The song I used is Kevin Roth's "The Quiet Times" from "Lullabies for Little Dreamers." The reason it is used here is because I couldn't find a Sprout lullaby.