Bedtime Story: Princess Mi-Ah is afraid to sleep alone

Once upon a time there was a beatiful princess.  Her name was Princess Mi-Ah.  Princess Mi-Ah lived on a castle on top of a hill.  The hill was covered with flowers.  And Princess Mi-Ah loved flowers…

Each night, mother stayed with Princess Mi-Ah until she stayed asleep.  And every night when Princess Mi-Ah would wake up, she would get mother until she fell asleep again. 

After a while, mother told Princess Mi-Ah.  “Mi-Ah, you’re a big princess now.  It’s time to sleep alone.”

Princess Mi-Ah didn’t like hearing that at all.  She cried and she cried until her mother couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’m sorry, but I just cannot stay with you.  I really cannot!” said mother.

“But you must!  I’m afraid!  The shadows will get me!  The dragon will eat me up!” cried out Princess Mi-Ah.

“I see…” said mother.   Mother was silent for a minute as Princess Mi-Ah continued to sniffle and wipe the tears that were on her cheeks. 

Then she said, “Then you will not sleep alone, if that is what you want.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you!”  Princess Mi-Ah went back under her blanket.

“But it will not be me.  Wait here”.  Mother left her room.

THE FROG

Mother soon returned with a small frog.  “Frog will keep you company tonight.  He is not afraid of the dark and loves to sing at night.”

“Oooh!  I frog!  I like frogs!”  Princes Mi-Ah was excited and placed the frog on a pillow on her bed.  “Goodnight, mother!  And thank you for the frog to stay with me tonight!”

She was so excited with a frog in her bed, she found it hard to fall asleep.  She looked at it and felt its sliminess.  “Eeeuw!  You’re yucky!  Hee hee hee!”

Eventually she slept.  But soon she awoke to the sounds of’, “Rrrrrribbit.  Rrrrrrribbit.  Rrrrrrrrribbit.”

“Oh, please, frog!  Won’t you be quiet!  I want to sleep!” Princee Mi-Ah rolled to her side and pressed her pillow over her ear.  She could still hear the annoying frog.  “Rrrrribbit.  Rrrrrribbit.”  The next morning, she was exhausted.  She hardly slept at all. 

“Mother!  You really must get rid of that frog!  He kept me awake all night!” said Princess Mi-Ah to her mother at the breakfast table.

“I see…  Then tonight you will have something else.”

“Oh, thank you!”  And Princess Mi-Ah was happy again.

THE KITTEN

That night, mother brought in another animal.  A cute, fuzzy white kitten.  Princess Mi-Ah just loved kittens and immediately took the little creature into her bed.  She snuggled up to it and finally went to sleep, after a lot of playing around with the kitten, of course.

That night she awoke to the sounds of, “Miiiiiaow!  Miiiiiiaow!  Miiiiiiiaow!”

“Oh, please, kitty!  Be quiet!  I’m trying to sleep!” 

But the kitten continued to sing in the night.  “Miiiiiaow!  Miiiiiiaow!  Miiiiiiiaow!”

The next morning, Princess Mi-Ah was exhausted again.  She had circles under her eyes.

“Mother, the kitten kept me awake all night too.  Please can you give me something else?” said Princess Mi-Ah to her mother.

“But of course.  There will be something new to sleep with tonight.”

THE OWL

A beautiful, brown owl with a white face was brought in. 

 ”Owls stay awake all night.  He should be good company while you sleep,” said mother.

“Oh, he’s lovely!  Thank you, mother!” said Princess Mi-Ah.  She curled up in her bed, and looked at the owl.  But she was so tired, that she fell asleep right away.”

That night, she awoke AGAIN.  To the sounds of, “Too-wit-too-hoo!  Too-wit-too-hoo!”

“Oh, no!  Not you too, owl!  Please be quiet!” groaned Princess Mi-Ah.

It was another sleepless night, as the owl hooted away.

“Mother!  This is not going well!  I haven’t had sleep for 3 nights now!  No more animals please!  They are far too noisy!” demanded Princess Mi-Ah.

“I see….” said mother.  “Then maybe Cook can stay overnight with you.”  Mother turned to Cook as she walked in, “Will you, Cook?  Stay with Princess Mi-Ah tonight?  She doesn’t like to sleep alone.”

“Well, I, uh…. Okay.”  And it was decided.

That night Cook settled down on a nice bed brought in next to Princess Mi-Ah’s.  After 3 nights of little sleep, she didn’t even feel like talking to Cook.  She went right to sleep. 

But she was soon awakened the the sounds of Cook snoring.  “ZZZZZZZZ.   ZZZZZZZZ.  ZZZZZZZZ.”

“Oh, no!  I’m never going to get sleep like this!” moaned Princess Mi-Ah.

The next morning, she was so tired, she could barely move her feet to walk.  At breakfeast, she begged her mother again.  “Oh, mother.  Cook kept me awake all night too.  With her snoring!”  Princess Mi-Ah started to cry.

“I see….” said mother.  “I have one last idea.”

“Oh, please let it be a quiet one!”  begged Princess Mi-Ah.

THE SLEEPING FLOWER

That night, there was no animal that cried or sang at night, and no Cook to snore away.  Instead, her mother brought in a single flower.  It was pink and in full bloom.  When she brought it into the room, it filled the room with a sweet smell that made Princess Mi-Ah smile.

“I know how much you love flowers.  So I thought a flower would be the perfect sleeping companion for you.  This is a sleeping flower.  It has a sweet smell that will make you dream of the flower meadow that you love so much,” explained mother.

“Oh, a flower!  That is perfect!”  Princess Mi-Ah lie in her bed and looked at the flower.  She breathed in deeply to smell the perfume.  She fell asleep and was able to stay asleep the whoooooole night long.

The next morning, she told her mother how happy she was with her new sleeping flower.  “I slept like a rose!” she cried out happily.

And from then on, every night, the sleeping flower was in her room when she slept.  After a while, the flower started to grow and soon there were more flowers.  The flowers were growing because they were being fed by Princess Mi-Ah’s dreams.  And each flower was a different color and shape to represent her dreams.  After a while, there were so many flowers, she made new plants and gave them away as presents.  A purple one to Cook.  A blue one to Prince Boerie.  A red one to mother.  And a white one to father.

THE END