I hate going to bed

Ben is told to go to bed. But Ben hates going to bed! He wants to stay up and have fun.Meet Batu. Find out Ben’s plan. Listen to him sneak. What is making all that noise? Did they hear? Enjoy what happens. Find out what Ben really wants.We like what Ben realises in the end. We wish we could see Batu’s face!

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I hate going to bed

A Tales of Time Story.

"It’s not fair", said Benjamin to Batu. "I hate going to bed!"

Batu was Benjamin’s best friend. Batu was a teddy bear. Batu never talked; he only listened and smiled. Benjamin loved Batu.

“I said it’s bedtime!” called Benjamin’s Dad from the bottom of the stairs.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo’” yelled Benjamin at the top of his voice. Then he squinched up his eyes, wrinkled his nose and poked out his tongue with all his might. ‘Pthhthhthhth’ he spat.

Batu laughed so hard, he nearly fell out of bed, but nobody heard him.

When Benjamin’s eyes opened, they opened really wide indeed. Dad had come upstairs and was standing right in front of him!

“AAAggghh” he cried. Then he ran in circles on the landing trying not to be caught.

Dad was running round in circles too. They were both getting rather dizzy.
“Gotcha!” said Dad as he swept Benjamin off his feet and carried him over his shoulder to his bedroom.

Benjamin was not happy. He wriggled and squiggled and growled like a bear. Then he puffed up his face like a balloon until it went red. Finally, he pushed out his bottom lip and pretended to cry. But nothing seemed to be working. Dad was putting him to bed anyway.

“Good night, Benny Boy” said Dad as he blew out the light and shut the door.

“Humph” said Benjamin.

“It’s not fair!” He said again.

“Why are adults allowed to stay up? Every night, I have to go to bed while they have fun. It’s so boring! I can hear them talking and laughing. But I have to sit here by myself and have no fun at all.”

Batu didn’t say anything, but this hurt his feelings.

“By yourself?” he thought. ‘No fun at all?’

“I know what I’ll do” said Benjamin, I’ll sneak downstairs!’

With that, Benjamin went over to the bedroom door. Very quietly, he opened it.

 ‘SQEEEAAAAAK’ said the door. “Shhhh” hushed Benjamin. Then he froze. Had they heard him? He could hear them still chatting so he squashed himself through the gap in the door and tiptoed across the landing. ‘Squeak, squeak, squeak’ said the floor with each step. “Shh shh shh” hushed Benjamin. He froze again – “I don’t think they heard that either.”

He was now at the top of the stairs.

“One step at a time”, he thought.

“ Sloooowwwwllly.”

‘Creeeeaaaaaak…ccreeeeeaaaaeak’

“Oh dear”, he thought, “maybe I should go faster.”

 ‘Creak creak’.

“Oh, that’s no good.  I’ll have to crawl down on my tummy!”

So he started sliding down the stairs headfirst.

 ‘SLth slths slthh’ said his pyjamas as they slid along the carpet.

“Will you be quiet?”Ben hissed.

When he was finally at the bottom, he ducked behind the bookcase in the hall and listened. At first, all he could hear was ‘Bang Bang Bang’ it was his heart pounding from all that sneaking. It was so loud he was sure everyone could hear it.

But nobody seemed to notice anything. Adult talk must be so interesting that no one had any idea that Benjamin has snuck all the way down stairs and was hiding in the hall. They were all still chatting.

“Brilliant” thought Benjamin, “now I can listen to some real adult talk.”

 So Benjamin listened to his Dad.

 He listened to his Mum.

He listened to their guests too. They were laughing and laughing. But Benjamin had never been so BORED in all his life!!! Boring, boring, boring. He had just snuck all the way downstairs for this? Adult talk was just plain boring! Benjamin rolled his eyes and then closed them.

He would much rather be upstairs chatting to Batu. He loved their chats at bedtime. They weren’t boring. Batu was so much fun.

When Benjamin opened his eyes, he opened them very wide indeed. ‘What are you doing there Benny Boy?’ It was dad right in front of him. He must have fallen asleep.

“Can I go to bed now?” asked Benjamin.

“Come on”said Dad and walked him upstairs.

As they opened the bedroom door, there was Batu still tucked into Benjamin’s bed.

“Batu!”he cried and jumped into bed too.

“Good night Dad” he said.

Then he snuggled under the duvet and gave Batu the biggest hug.

“Batu, I don’t mind going to bed at all now. It’s fun because you’re here.”

It was too dark for Benjamin to see, but Batu had the biggest smile on his face that any teddy bear had ever had. Then they both fell asleep; the best of friends.

The End.

©Tales of Time 2009