“I returned home from the village where my wife’s parents lived. My wife and our son stayed there to help her elderly parents with household chores.
For the first two nights, I couldn’t fall asleep, and it was only on the third night that I understood why. It turned out I missed the chaos he used to create before bedtime.
Just before bedtime, it was his duty to organize an operation to capture the couch with his green toy soldiers.
He also had to immediately inflate a balloon, which he deflated even more by morning.
After all that, he developed a voracious appetite, and the two of us would raid the fridge in search of something ‘delicious.’
Then, while evading my wife, and consequently, her mother, we both tired ourselves out and finally fell asleep.
So, for several nights, I couldn’t close my eyes. One night, at 2 a.m., my wife called me. But upon hearing the creaky ‘Hello?’ on the other end, I knew it was my Vitya.
“Dad, you won’t believe what happened!” His voice reflected his excitement. “Well, what happened, my son?”
I began to worry about what they might have done. “A giraffe in the village! In our village, can you imagine? And it tried to eat our dumpling!”
He spoke in fragments, as always. “Who ate what?” I was now unsure of what to expect from our conversation.
“Auntie made a dumpling and put it on the window sill on the third floor, and it came to life! It had eyes, a mouth, and a deep voice.
And suddenly, a giraffe approached the window and wanted to eat it!” “Wow, and what happened to the dumpling?” I asked.
“Well, the dumpling started singing, and while the giraffe was distracted by the dumpling’s singing, it lowered its long neck and, swinging on the swing in front of the house, flew far, far away!”
“Did the giraffe chase it or something?” I asked. “I don’t know yet. I’ll find out tomorrow. Goodnight!” My son replied and hung up before I could respond. “Goodnight, my son,” I said softly, even though he didn’t hear it.
Shortly after, my wife called me, laughing. “So, how was the bedtime story for you tonight? Will you sleep like a baby?” “It was wonderful, I must say. I wish it could be like this every day.”
