3:30am

Larry lay in bed, back turned to the door. It was a dreamless sleep. Suddenly, his eyes popped open. He sat up and looked around. He could have sworn he heard a noise. Something definitely woke him up. But what? He listened and all was quiet.

Larry heaved a sigh and lay back down. He closed his eyes as his head hit the pillow. That’s when he heard it. He sat up again, eyes wide now. He looked around his room. The little nightlight shed some yellow light across most of the room. He sat still and listened. He frowned, thinking he was just hearing things.

Then he heard it again. Larry’s eyes became wide again. He couldn’t place what the noise was and it was really starting to bother him. There it went again! It wasn’t sounding with any sort of regularity. He glanced out the window, but didn’t notice anything. He could get a better look if he actually got out of bed, but he was too nervous to move.

His fingers curled and clenched the blanket. His eyes were still wide and moving about the room. There, again! He pulled the blanket up in front of him. He wanted to crawl underneath and hide… but he wasn’t a little kid anymore.

Larry figured he should turn the lights on and get a better look around the room, but he sat frozen. His fear of the dark had a hard grasp on him. This noise was louder! Larry screamed and threw the blanket over his head.

Within moments a knock came at his door. He knew it was Balki, but his fear wouldn’t let him answer it. He sat there still and quiet, willing, presumably, Balki to go away and back to bed. Larry heard his door open.

“Cousin?” came Balki’s voice, softly. He turned on the lights. He tilted his head, seeing the odd sight on the bed. “Is that you under there, Cousin?”

“No. There’s no cousin here…” Larry replied, softly, his voice trembling.

Balki sat on the bed. He pulled at the blanket and finally uncovered Larry’s head. This action left Larry’s curls sticking out every which way. He frowned, lips pressed together with the upper completely disappeared. “Cousin?” Balki began gently, “did you have a bad dream? I heard you scream.”

“I heard a noise…” Larry answered, sounding very much like a scared child.

“What did the noise sound like?” Balki asked.

Larry was about to respond when he realized he hadn’t heard it since Balki came in. “Balki… were you already awake?”

Balki nodded. “Yes, Cousin, I was.”

Larry sat up straighter. “You weren’t by chance making any noise, were you?”

“I was no making any noise,” Balki answered. This caused Larry’s eyes to widen. Then Balki continued, “I needed to say more prayer but wanted to make sure I was heard so I tapped a spoon on a rock to get some attention.”

Larry sighed. “Balki… go back to bed. And the next time you need to say another pray, save it for the next night. Now, go!” He pointed at the door.

“Okay, I go back to bed,” Balki agreed, standing. He went to the door and paused. “Cousin, maybe you want to think about saying your prayers, too. It will help you sleep better.” Balki left and closed the door behind him.

Larry sighed, eyes narrowing. He looked up to the ceiling. “Why me?”

As if to answer, he heard the noise again. Larry quickly turned off the lights and laid down, burrowing under the blankets.

End