A few nights ago, my girlfriend and I were video chatting, and she said that lately she always can’t sleep, she can’t sleep even when she lies in bed and tosses and turns, and the next day she wakes up with no energy at all.I was a bit saddened by this and wondered if I could do something to help her.Then an idea popped into my head: why don’t we read her a bedtime story?When I was a kid, my parents used to tell me stories, and it seemed to really relax people.
So I did it.The next morning I took out my cell phone and typed a few keywords into the search bar: “cute stories” and “bedtime stories”.So many links popped up at once that my eyes glazed over.I clicked on them one by one and found that many of the stories were too complicated, either about princes and princesses or adventures and battles, which made me tired of listening to them.I thought, “No, I need to find a lighter and warmer story.
In the end, I thought, why don’t I just make one up myself, so I can still adjust the content to her liking.
By Saturday night, as we were both lying in bed swiping our phones, she yawned.I saw the opportunity and hurriedly said to her, “Baby, I’ve prepared a short story, would you like to hear it?”Her eyes lit up, she nodded and said, “Sure, I happen to be sleepy.”
So I started to tell it:
A magic new holiday in the forest.
In a big forest, there are lots of cute little animals.Every fall, the forest hosts a very interesting event called the Magic New Year Festival.
This festival has a very special rule: each little animal can bring its own unwanted things, and then exchange its favorite new things with other little friends.And the most amazing thing is that there is a big magic tree in the center of the forest.As long as the exchanges were done on the day of the Swap Festival, it would use its magic to make the items more beautiful and meaningful.
Once, Clark the bunny decided to take part in the festival.She was holding an old scarf in her hand, and even though it had been used for a long time, she couldn’t bring herself to throw it away.Maybe someone else would like it, she thought.
When Clark arrived at the Swapfest, she was stunned by what she saw.There were colorful little objects everywhere, from pretty wreath necklaces, to tiny, cute leaf bookmarks, to little mushroom lights that glowed and looked especially interesting.
Clark was wandering around when she suddenly heard a cry.She followed the sound and found that it was her good friend, Andy the squirrel.Andy was sitting on the ground, holding a broken cabin toy, and said tearfully, “My cabin broke, and I’m trying to find a new …… one, but I’ve been looking for a long time and I can’t find the right one.”
Clark looked at Andy’s saddened face and felt bad.She thought for a moment and walked up and said softly, “Andy, don’t cry.Can I give you this scarf?It’s a little old, but it’s warm.”
Andy looked up and nodded with red eyes.So Clark handed Andy the scarf and Andy gave Clark his cabin toy.
The very moment they completed the exchange, the enchanted tree in the center of the forest suddenly emitted a dazzling light.That light shone like a rainbow on the scarf and the cabin.When the light dissipated, a miracle happened!
The cabin in Clark’s hands became strong and beautiful, with a tiny chimney on the roof that emitted colorful smoke; and the scarf Andy had been given became as good as new, with a faint scent.
The two little friends were so happy that they said thank you to each other, and then went on strolling through the fair together to see what other interesting exchanges they could help with.
Then they saw Sean the monkey take his unused bamboo basket and exchange it for a pair of binoculars, so that he could see the distant scenery; Nana the fox took her little shoes that she couldn’t wear out and exchanged them for a little box that could hold secrets.
The whole forest was filled with laughter, and everyone found their new favorite treasures.At the end of the changing festival, all the little animals went home happily.
Clarke was especially happy to hold her repaired cabin toy.She felt that this was not only a simple exchange, but also a wonderful experience of helping others and being helped by others.
The story is finished.
After the story was finished, I called out to her gently, “Are you asleep?”There was no response.I looked at the screen of my cell phone, it was already dark, she had long been asleep.
I was secretly pleased, but I was afraid of waking her, so I gently hung up the voice call.
The next morning, she sent me a tweet and said, “Yesterday that story was so good, after listening to it, I fell asleep in a daze, just like taking a sleeping pill.”I laughed out loud at that and replied back to her, “Then do you want to hear it next time?I can keep talking.”
From then on, she took the initiative to ask me every week, “Is there a new story tonight?”And I stuck with it, making up a different short story to tell her each time.It was simple, but warm and meaningful.
Summarize this incident.
At first I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to tell the story well and that it would be boring or uninteresting to her.I didn’t expect it to work surprisingly well.I conceived, practiced and told the story by myself from beginning to end, and I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I watched her fall asleep sweetly.
Now she has gotten into the habit of wanting to hear a story every night before she goes to bed.For me, this is not only a way to put her to sleep, but also a way to express my care and love.
Sometimes life is like this, some seemingly small things, in fact, the most warm.
