" Monsters In The Bedroom "
By: Lynne G.
All was quiet inside the large log ranch home of the Cartwright family as they peacefully slept. Suddenly a very loud piercing scream could be heard coming from five year old, Little Joe's room. The child was the youngest son of Ben Cartwright.
Ben bolted out of his warm bed and he ran down the hall to Little Joe's room. He was joined by his two older sons, Adam and Hoss, who had also been awaken by the screaming of their baby brother.
As they entered the child's room, there on the bed under the blankets and quilts sat the screaming boy.
" Joseph, sweetheart, wake up baby. Papa's here now and you are safe," Ben calmly said as he uncovered the terrified child. Little Joe was basically still asleep as he fought his fears.
Ben picked up his sweat covered little boy and held him tightly while softly talking to him as he tried to calm him down. He was also gently rubbing the child's back as well.
" Shh, shh, you're alright now sweetheart. Open your eyes Little Joe, please son. That a boy," Ben calmly said as the boy slowly opened his eyes and he looked up at Ben who was smiling back at him. His tiny body was still badly trembling and he now had the hiccups too.
Adam walked over to the dresser to get a dry nightshirt for his little brother while Hoss poured some water into a glass, and he handed it to Ben, who in turn made Little Joe take a drink of the cool refreshing water.
" Pa, is he alright?" Adam and Hoss both asked. " Yes, he'll be fine. He had a very bad dream," Ben replied as he continued to hold his young son in his loving arms. Little Joe had finally stopped trembling, but he still had tears in his big green eyes.
About that time, Hop Sing had entered the boy's room with a large bowl of warm water and some towels, and a wash cloth.
" Warm bath make little boy feel much better," Hop Sing explained. " Thank you Hop Sing. A nice warm bath will surely help Little Joe feel better," Ben gratefully said.
" Little Joe, let's get this wet nightshirt off of you and we'll get you bathed. It will make you feel much better, then you can go back to sleep," Ben suggested. The little boy nodded back as he yawned.
" Can you tell Papa about your dream sweetheart?" Ben asked hoping his son would tell him about his dream. Ben began to gently bathe his little boy with the warm wet washcloth.
" P...Papa, there was monsters in my room, and they was gonna gets me. I'm scareded Papa, dunt let em gets me, please," Little Joe told Ben as he began to cry again.
Ben held Little Joe as he washed the child's back and he said, " Sweetheart, there aren't any monsters in your room. Monsters don't exist. You are perfectly safe baby." Ben kept trying to explain to his son, but the boy just knew that the mosnters were in his room, and that they were hiding
somewhere were no one could see them.
" Hey Punkin, there ain't no monsters on the Ponderosa," Hoss said. " Yes Hoss, theys here," the child declared.
Ben now had Little Joe bathed and into a dry nightshirt, then he tucked the little boy safely back into his bed. " Papa, can I's sleep wiv ya tanight please?" the scared little boy asked.
Ben smiled at his young son, and replied back, " You sure can sweetheart. I would love to have you sleep with me." Ben uncovered Little Joe and he carried him back to his room. " You have good dreams little buddy," Adam suggested. " Fank ya Adam," the boy softly answered.
Ben laid Little Joe down in his large bed and covered him up, and then he got into bed, and covered up too. He could feel his baby son snuggle up next to him which made him smile. He loved the feel of the closeness of his son next to him.
" You go back to sleep now sweetheart. I love you baby," Ben lovingly said as he kissed the child's forehead. " I's wuv ya too Papa," the sleepy little boy replied. It only took a couple of minutes before Little Joe was sound to sleep.
The sound of the child's breathing told Ben that his son was indeed sound to sleep, which made him smile. A couple of minutes later, Ben too, was sound to sleep.
The next morning everyone was a little sleepy yet. Little Joe seemed happy as he had forgotten about his nightmare the night before.
For the next several weeks, Little Joe continued to have his nightmares about monsters in his room. The scream in the night had become the normal sound in the Cartwright home.
His family kept telling him that there weren't any monsters in his room, but Little Joe knew that there were monsters in there, even if his family kept telling that him that there weren't any monsters in his room.
During the day, Little Joe would search his room for any sign of the monsters, but they seem to vanish during the day. " I's know ya monsters is in here. Ya gotta go away, cuz ya's a scarin' me. GO AWAY NOW !" the child shouted at the monsters. He smiled when he didn't hear any reply back.
The interrupted sleep at night was beginning to take it's toll on the family. Hoss had been falling alseep at school, which made teacher, Miss Jones upset. She had finally decided to send a note home for Ben with Hoss one day, stating that she wanted to have a meeting with him about Hoss falling asleep in class.
Adam was having trouble doing all his chores and Ben was having trouble concentrating on ranch duties. Little Joe was cranky and he cried a lot.
The day
that Ben was going to have his meeting with Miss Jones, he had gone into
" Ben, did Adam and Hoss go through this same thing when they were Little Joe's age?" Paul asked. " Yes, they did, but not as much as Little Joe is. He hasn't had nightmares this bad since Marie died. For some reason, he thinks that there are monsters in his room at night, but we keep telling him that monsters don't exist, but I don't think he believes us," Ben sadly said.
" Ben, for some reason, most children go through this same thing, but it's mostly boys who dream of monsters trying to get them. Do you think that someone has purposely told Little Joe that there are monsters in his room?" Paul asked.
" No, not that I know of. I'm sure that Adam and Hoss surely would tell their baby brother something like that. I'll ask the hands if any of them might have unknowingly mentioned something about monsters to Little Joe, since they all love to be around the boy," Ben suggested.
" That sounds like a good idea Ben. I could give you some sleeping powders to see if they might help Little Joe get a good night's sleep. I hate to give them to children, but it might be worth a try," Paul suggested as he gave Ben several packets of sleeping powders.
" Thanks Paul, I sure do hope these work. None of us are getting much sleep anymore, and it is starting to take it's toll on all of us. I need to get over to the school and have a meeting with Miss Jones, as it seems that Hoss has been falling asleep in class quite a lot lately," Ben said as he left.
" Mr. Cartwright, I'm so glad you could make it. I really hated to bother you with this, but as I said in my note, Hoss has been falling asleep everyday in class. He has never done this before and it has me quite concerned about him," Miss Jones explained to Ben.
" I am very sorry about this Miss Jones, but I can't blame Hoss. We are all having a hard time staying awake during the day. You see, my youngest son, Little Joe has been having nightmares every night and he wakes up screaming. This has been going on for three weeks now," Ben started to explain.
" In fact, I have just come from seeing Dr. Martin about this. He said that most children, especially boys seem to have nightmares about monsters, but not as many as Little Joe has been having," Ben continued.
" I'll see if I can get Hoss into going to bed earlier, but with all his chores and homework, that won't be easy. I'm very sorry about all of this Miss Jones," Ben finished.
Miss Jones could tell that Ben looked tired. " I had no idea Mr. Cartwright. That poor little boy. If you'd like, I could give you Hoss's assignments for the next two to three weeks and he could do them at home instead of coming to class," Miss Jones suggested.
" That would be wonderful. I would really appreciate that very much. Thank you," Ben happily replied, as he smiled at Miss Jones, who in turn smiled back at Ben.
" No trouble at all. Just let me write down what he can do. I know he has his notebook and books with him, and we aren't going to be having any tests coming up either, so there won't be any problems with him staying home," Miss Jones explained to Ben
" Here is what I would like him to do," she said as she handed Ben Hoss's assignments for the next three weeks.
" Thank you Miss Jones. I can't thank you enough," Ben said. " I do hope that Little Joe will stop having those nightmares. It has to be very hard on him as well," Miss Jones voiced her concerns to Ben.
" Yes, it has been very hard on him. He is very cranky with not getting enough sleep, and he is crying a lot also. I try to get him to take naps during the day, but he would rather play. That boy can be very stubborn at times," Ben declared.
" Ya mean I dun't gotta go ta school?" Hoss excitedly squealed. " No, not for three weeks, but I do have all your assignments for those three weeks," Ben told Hoss, who's smile and excitement vanished. Ben smiled at Hoss, and added, " It won't be all that bad son, but at least you will be able to get some good sleep while Little Joe is awake during the day."
" I guess so, but how ya gonna keep him out of my room so I can sleep?" Hoss asked. " I'll come up with something to keep him busy," Ben replied.
Ben had asked all of the hands if any of them might have mentioned anything about monsters being in Little Joe's room, but none of them had.
Again that night, Little Joe woke up screaming and mumbling about monsters chasing him around in his room.
" Little Joe, can you tell Papa what the monsters look like?" Ben asked his crying child.
As the child sniffed, he told his family what the monsters looked like. " They's really big Papa. They gotts big red eyes, and some of em is green and some of em is purple, and...and they gotts really big teeth too ! Make em go away Papa. They wants ta eats me !" Little Joe excitedly explained as he looked up at Ben with his big green bright teary eyes.
" Joseph, did someone tell you that there were monsters in your room?" Ben asked, hoping that his son would remember if someone had told him that.
" I dun't 'member Papa," the child replied as he started to yawn over and over. Ben picked him up and carried him back to his room for the rest of the night.
After Adam and Hoss had gone back to their rooms, each one couldn't understand why their baby brother kept thinking that there were monsters in his room.
Then
suddenly Adam remembered that he had been upset with Little Joe a few weeks
back, because the little boy wouldn't do as he was told while Ben was away in
Adam didn't think his little brother had taken him seriously, because he told Adam that monsters wouldn't get him because he was a good boy, and that monsters only ate naughty boys. Then he told Adam that he was naughty for picking on him. Adam also remembered that Little Joe had laughed about that whole monster idea.
Adam knew that he needed to explain to Ben about what he had told Little Joe about monsters, and how his little brother had reacted to that by laughing at him.
The next morning, Little Joe told Ben that he was going to shoot the monsters with his toy gun, and then he was going to shoot them with his sling shot. Ben had to laugh at his little son, because the child had his sheriff's badge on and holster and gun on too.
" Looks like you are ready to shoot the monsters I see," Ben declared. " Yup, then I's gonna take em ta town and puts em in jail !" Little Joe told Ben.
Ben smiled at his son, and said, " Good boy. Now you be very careful and only shoot the monsters now." " I's will Papa," the child replied as he went on his monster hunt.
" Pa, I have something to tell you that I suddenly remembered last night after I went back to bed," Adam said as he looked sheepishly at Ben. " Yes son, I'm listening," Ben replied as he looked at the guilty look on Adam's face.
Adam took a deep breath and he began to explain to Ben what he had suddenly remembered the night before.
" Last
month Pa when you were in
" Pa, I didn't think he took me seriously because he laughed at me and he told me that monsters ate only naughty boys, and he told me that I was naughty for picking on him. He also added that he was a good boy," Adam added.
" I see. I appreciate you telling me this son, but next time don't use the word' monster'. You know how sensitive your baby brother is. I am upset with you for telling him that. You have caused that little boy all those awful nightmares, and all of us losing sleep everynight," Ben explained.
" Son, I want you to please convince Little Joe that there aren't any monsters in his room, and I will let him punish you the way he wants to. I think that is the only fair thing to do," Ben suggested.
" Thanks
One thing that Little Joe did have, was a very active imagination. He and his imagination could always find many adventures to go on, and plenty of mischief to go along with that too which could cause all kinds of problems for his family.
Little Joe was now outside playing, and in his mind, he was chasing the monsters out of the yard. He heard Ben call out to him. " Yes Papa, ya wants me fer somethin'?" the boy asked.
" Yes sweetheart. Could you please come in the house for a few minutes," Ben asked. Little Joe walked into the house with a worried look on his sweet little face.
" Am I in trouble Papa?" a very concerned Little Joe asked as he looked up at Ben with questioning eyes, and then he saw Adam standing there too.
" No son, you aren't in any trouble. Your brother Adam has something to tell you," Ben explained as he sat down in his chair. Little Joe looked over at Adam not sure what was going on.
Adam smiled at his little brother and said, " Come here little buddy, and sit on my lap." Little Joe did what he was asked to do, and he kept looking at Adam with big questioning eyes while he walked over to Adam and when Adam picked him up put him on his lap, the child continued to look at his big brother.
Adam gave his little brother a big hug and kissed the top of his head.
" Little Joe, I have something to tell you, and I want you to just listen to what I have to say before you say anything. Alright little buddy?" Adam said. The child nodded back.
" Good
boy. Remember last month when Pa was in
Little Joe nodded back as he began to get a little nervous and he started to tremble, which Adam could feel right away. Adam held the child tighter and said, " Hey, it's alright little buddy, your safe in my arms."
Ben could see fear written all over Little Joe's face, and he said, " Little Joe, you have nothing to be nervous about sweetheart. Just listen to what Adam is going to tell you."
" Well little buddy, I want you to know, that there aren't any monsters . I only told you that so you would behave yourself. I am so very sorry that you have been so scared and having all those nightmares. There are NO monsters in your room little buddy." Adam explained.
" I promise you that there aren't any monsters your room. I hope that you can forgive little buddy. I didn't mean for you to get so scared. I love you little brother. Please believe me," Adam finished telling his little brother as he again kissed the top of the head of the curly haired youngster.
" Ya mean there ain't no monsters in my room? Ya sure 'bout that Adam? Ya really sure?" the child asked as his eyes were as wide open as they could be.
Adam hugged Little Joe and he reassured the boy and he said, " I promise you baby, there are NO monsters in your room !"
Little Joe looked up at Adam with a very serious look on his face, and as he was trying to tell if Adam was telling him the truth. He could tell that Adam wasn't lying to him.
Little Joe sighed and he said, " That wan't very nice Adam. Ya was naughty ta scareded me like that !" " Yes, I was very naughty little buddy, and for that reason, you get to punish me for it too," Adam said as he looked down at his baby brother who had a strange look on his face.
The little boy looked at Ben and asked, " Papa, does I gets ta really punish Adam?" " Yes you do sweetheart," Ben replied as he was getting a kick at the look the child now had on his face
Little Joe looked up at Adam and he had a big grin on his face that looked like total mischief. " Yes little buddy, you get to punish me anyway you want," Adam said as he wondered what his little brother would come up with for his punishment.
The boy got off of Adam's lap, still grinning and he told Adam to bend over.
" I'm ready little brother, so anytime you are ready, you just go ahead and give me what I deserve," Adam suggested. Little Joe look over at Ben, and Ben smiled at his little son and said, " Go ahead sweetheart and give your big brother a good tanning."
Little Joe took a deep breath and he began to tan Adam as hard as he could. " Ooch, ooch ! That hurts !" Adam shouted as he was very surprised at how hard his baby brother was tanning him.
After several swats, Little Joe stopped tanning his big brother. " Now, ya better be good Adam and dun't scare me again. It ain't nice ya know. Umm, Golly Adam, I hope I dun't hurted ya ta bad," Little Joe said, as he was still grinning, but he was also a little concerned that he might have hurt his big brother.
Adam stood up and rubbed his bottom, as he looked down at his baby brother. " You sure hit hard little buddy, but I did deserve that tanning. I'm sorry little buddy," Adam told his little brother.
Little Joe continued to grin at Adam as he gave Adam a big hug, and he said, " I's wuv ya Adam !" " I love you too little buddy.
That was something Ben always did after he had to tan one of his sons, he gave them a big hug and told them that he loved them.
Ben was having a very hard time not to tear up at what Little Joe had just said to Adam. He was surprised that his son had done that. " I guess I've made a good impression on that little imp after all," Ben thought to himself.
Adam's confession seemed to have worked on Little Joe, as he stopped believing that there were monsters in his room at night. Now the family could all get a good night sleep once again.
The End.