“Mum, why can’t we stay up late?” I asked as Luke, Resus, Cleo and I headed off to bed. “Everyone needs sleep, some stay up and some like to sleep until the morning arrives. Remember those nocturnal animals we saw in that documentary programme earlier?” We remembered. There were bats and foxes and hedgehogs, owls and possums too. “They like to stay up really late,” said Cleo. “Yeah, and don’t forget about their appetites for mice!” said Luke, “Although I must say, eating mice can be quite disgusting if you’re a fox.” “Alright then, get some sleep. Things will look better in the morning.” Mum exited the room, turned off the light and left us sleeping soundly and safely.
Suddenly, I woke up. It was only 11PM, but Luke, Resus and Cleo were already asleep. I looked out of the window and gasped! There was a whole forest outside, wheras normally there were houses and cars outside. I shook Luke awake. “Luke, wake up! Resus, Cleo, get up! Our house has moved!” My siblings woke up, yawning. “It’s far too late to be moving house,” said Resus, “We like our house just the way it is.” “No, I don’t mean that, look out the window!” I said. We looked, and saw the forest, a dark shadow covered in the blackness of the night. “Where are Bluey and Bingo?” asked Cleo. She was starting to feel worried now. “You try and phone them, I’ll try and switch the lights on.”
Cleo ran downstairs to phone Bluey and Bingo. I raced over to the light switch and tried to turn it on. It couldn’t. “There’s no power!” I wailed. Downstairs, Cleo was getting more worried as she tried to dial the Heeler family’s number. When she did, the phone made a loud beeping noise. “No no no no no!” cried Cleo, and slammed the phone down. Luke, Resus and I raced downstairs to find Cleo biting her bandaged fingernails in fear. “The lights won’t go on,” I said. “The phone won’t work. I’ve tried everything but there’s no signal.” Cleo said. “And to make matters worse, our parents have disappeared, even Dig and Lulu.” said Luke. “How can we survive without our parents and pets?” “We have to go outside and see where we are,” I said. “Follow me.”
Luke, Resus and Cleo followed me outside. We couldn’t believe it. We really were in a forest at night! Our fear turned to amazement as we gazed at the beautiful nighttime atmosphere. Suddenly, Cleo thought she could hear a mouse squeak. “My hearing’s a lot more improved than usual.” she thought. Resus was beginning to feel the same too, but now, our eyes were used to the darkness. “We can see in the dark!” “And we can use echolocation!” I said. “Oh, that’s what bats do to hunt down their prey. They pick up soundwaves to hunt their food!” I roared loudly like a lion. Immediately, a dormouse came scurrying by. I pounced on it, and ripped a part of his flesh off, then started eating it. “So…roaring gets the food to you?” said Luke. “Much like a takeaway service activated by noise?” “Yeah - dormouse feels good on teeth and tongue. Try it!” I ripped off the mouse’s flesh and shared it with Luke, Resus and Cleo. Surprisingly, they found it extremely good. “Mmmmm. Yeah, you’re right, dead mouse does taste delicious.” “I could eat mice all night long.”
This was it. We were nocturnal creatures. We raced around the forest playing together all night. We climbed up a leafy hill and rolled down it, getting our pyjamas all dirty and landing in a heap at the bottom. We did this over and over. Then we raced across the forest howling like wolves, especially Luke, and we used echolocation to find our food and hunt for mice all the time. We climbed up trees and hung upside down with a troop of possums. It was quite calming hanging upside down, because it gives you more time to think. We felt like part of a possum family, and we could see each other downside up hanging upside down. We also felt like bats, which also came out at night. We ran towards cliffs and leapt off them into muddy pools, covering each other with mud until our pyjamas got dirtier than ever. We were laughing and splashing in the mud, and it was so much fun. We got so dirty that we quite forgot about the phrase ‘Cleanliness is next to godliness’. We leapt into leaf piles and threw leaves at each other, covering ourselves in leaves and mud until we felt at one with the night.
As we made our way out of the forest, we saw a huge waterfall and an even huger lake nearby. “I believe we need a bath.” I said. So we took off our pyjamas and placed them on the bank of the lake. Stark naked, we began to enjoy a calming swim in the cold water. We splashed each other and laughed in joy as our lake bath got more relaxing and fun. We leapt off cliffs and into the water, sometimes into each other’s arms. It was such a splendid night. And most of all, we were comfortable in our own skin. We ducked down under the water, then emerged, exhilarated.
Sitting on the bank of the lake, we were laughing over such a fun time. “And to think being nocturnal is the best thing ever, my parents are going to be so jealous when they find out I’ve been in the dark.” said Resus. Suddenly, he yawned. “And now, I’m feeling a bit sleepy.” We were all yawning and rubbing our eyes sleepily. “We’re so tired.” I yawned. “So we are,” said Luke. Our eyes were feeling tired already. “Mum was right, we do need sleep after all.”
We went back to our leaf pile just as the sun began to rise. We snuggled into the comfortable leaf pile and fell fast asleep, the most comfortable of all being me.
The sun streamed through the window when I woke up. We were back in our pyjamas. We were back in our bed. And best of all, the house was back in the street where it belonged. “Guys, wake up! We’re back!” I cried. Luke, Resus and Cleo woke up and said “We’re back? We had a dream too!” We leapt out of bed and hugged each other, jumping up and down. All our parents walked in and saw us. We could’ve never been more happier. We raced towards them and threw ourselves into their arms. “Mum! I’m so happy to see you!” I cried, “You’re right, we do need proper sleep.” “Thank you, Sybil, all nocturnal animals need respect.” “By the way, mum,” I said, “And everyone else too…
…we had the weirdest dream last night…”
THE END.
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