Sleep Tight

It was bed time for little Jake, so his mom tucked him in, kissed him good night, and, as always, said, “Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite!” Jake giggled, and settled in for a good night’s sleep.

              Moments later, he felt his bed shake. As he cautiously looked over the side of his bed, he suddenly saw…something…looking back at him. He was face to “face” with a flat faced, big eyed, antennae clad…thing. Jake screamed and jumped up so he was now standing on his bed. 

              “Why the kerfuffle?” the thing asked.

              “Who…who, what….are you?” Jake stuttered.

              “Well, young Jake, my name is Billybob…I’m your bed bug.”

              “Oh no! My mother warned me about you!”

              “Yes, yes. Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite. I hear her every night. But she and I had an agreement the day you were born. She does what she has to, and I do what I have to.” At this, Billybob began getting angry and flailing his arms, his antennae spiraling into tight curls.

              Jake became concerned at Billybob’s sudden anger and demanded, “Calm down, please, and explain what you mean!”

              But Billybob didn’t seem to hear him in the midst of his tirade. “I’m not the bad guy!” he insisted.

              “Billybob, why are you so angry? I’m the one who should be scared!” Jake shouted.

              During the melee, Jake’s mom opened the door and yelled, “What is going on here? Billybob, what are you doing?”

              “What…?” questioned Jake.

              “Back off, woman! This is YOUR fault!” Billybob yelled, pointing a long, slender “finger” at Mom.

              At this point, Jake’s mom slowly and quietly backed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

              Next, Jake’s dad burst into the room and shouted, “Jake! Why are you standing on your bed?”

              When Jake caught his breath, and looked around, he noticed Billybob was no longer in his room.

              “Jake, lay down and go to sleep” his father instructed.

              “Dad! Didn’t you see Billybob?”

              “Who?” his father asked.

              “Billybob…he’s a bug as big as me! With a flat face, big eyes, a blue/green shell, long thin “arms and legs”. He was right here, next to me. Mom saw him, she knew his name!”

              “Jake,” his mother interjected, “you must have had a bad dream.”

After what just happened, Jake wasn’t sure if he really saw a 4 foot, talking bug come out from under his bed, or, as his mother said, it was just a bad dream.

              “Check under my bed,” Jake insisted. So, his mom and dad knelt down, slowly lifted the blanket, and…

              “Oh for goodness sake’s!” his mother shrieked.

              “I told you!” Jake responded.

              “Why are there so many food wrappers under you bed, Jacob?”

              “What? I don’t know. It wasn’t me! It was the bug!”

              His father responded, “Lay down. Go to sleep. And we’ll talk about this in the morning."

              Feeling defeated, Jake did as he was asked and his parents left the room. As he lay down, knowing he wouldn’t be getting any sleep, he began to hear faint sounds. He closed his eyes, and tried to focus on what he was hearing, but he could only understand bits and pieces:

              “Stupid kid…”

              “He got blamed…”

              “We need more snacks…”

Jake quickly leaned over the side of the bed and peeked underneath, but all me saw were the piles of food wrappers his parents had seen.

The next morning, Jake’s father woke him early (Jake was surprised he had been able to sleep at all).

              “Jacob,” his father began, “you clean under your bed immediately. All of those wrappers are going to attract bugs!”

              Just then, his mother entered carrying a broom and trash bags. “I’ll help you, honey.” And she began removing the wrappers from under the bed. Jake knelt down to help out, and began questioning his mother about the events from the prior night.

              “Mommy, what WAS that thing? How did you know his name? Why was he so angry? Where did he go?”

              “There we go, all cleaned up! That wasn’t so bad,” his mother exclaimed. She then exited the room with 2 large bags of trash.

              “What is going on?” Jake wondered. Then he saw the broom his mother had left in his room and suddenly got an idea.

              “I’ll be ready for that Billybob thing tonight,” he muttered to himself.

Jake then went around the house collecting items he would need when the bug returned. He already had the broom (this would make a great sword), then he would need a metal bowl (helmet), and some rope to tie his pillows around his chest and back (every warrior needs a comfortable set of armor), and a trash bag (to catch his prey).

              It took longer than Jake expected to gather his supplies, and soon, his mother was calling for him to wash up for dinner. During dinner, he tried asking about the “incident” from the previous night. But neither of his parents offered any information.

              “I hope you cleaned up that mess under your bed,” his father stated.

              “Make sure to eat your green beans,” his mother chimed in.

              “May I be excused?” Jake finally asked.

              “Yes,” his parents said simultaneously.

Jake went to his room and quickly put on his battle gear. As he was preparing, he heard the faint sound of laughter, but continued on with his task. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, he heard, “Happy Halloween!” Jake turned around, and there he was…Billybob.

              “EEEEK!” Jake screamed. He cleared his throat, lowered his voice a bit and asked, “When did you get here? And, by the way, it’s not Halloween.”

              “Oh, I’m always here. If it’s not Halloween, why are you wearing that silly costume?”

              “It’s not a costume, it’s my battle gear…to fight you!” Jake responded.

              “Oh geez…I guess I lost that bet. My buddies and I were trying to figure out what you were doing. I had to laugh when Theo suggested some kind of defense thing. I guessed Halloween costume. That isn’t going to protect you from anything at all.”

              “Who, or what, are you? What do you want?” Jake asked.

              “Oh, your mother didn’t tell you? I’m not surprised. They always try to get out of our deal. OK, here it is…I’m a bed bug. The day you were born, I made a deal with your mom. I get to bite you every night, and in return, I would help her get her daily tasks done. Haven’t you ever wondered how your parents are able to work, take care of the house, have meals ready, and still spend time with you? It’s because I help them.” Billybob explained.

              “OK, I guess that kind of makes sense.” Jake responded. “But why do you want to bite me?”

              “No, no...I don’t WANT to bite you, I HAVE to bite you. Our bites have magical powers that help you grow up. That’s why they don’t want us to bite you, but it’s just part of life.”

              Jake looked a bit confused and asked, “Why don’t my parents want me to grow up?”

              “Because, they have this silly fear that you will grow up, move away, and won’t love them anymore. But every time they say “Don’t let the bed bugs bite”, it puts a protective shield around you, so we can’t bite. So by doing that, she broke our deal. I could have cleaned up under your bed, but if she’s going to break our deal, she can clean it!” At this point, Billybob started to become quite agitated again.

              “Oh no…calm down. I guess what you’re saying kind of makes sense. If my mom stops saying it, can you go back to the original deal?” Jake asked.

              “I suppose so,” Billybob said, much calmer now.

That night, as Jake was being tucked in, his mother started saying,

              “Sleep tight. Don’t…”

Jake put his finger up to her lips. “Shhh, mama. Don’t say it. I will always love you, Mom. No matter how big I get.”

With a single tear running down her cheek, she kissed Jake on the forehead and left his room.

As Jake was drifting off to sleep, he heard a faint whisper, “Good job, Jake. Thanks!”