Nick: Part III

Nick was left to contemplate his sins in his “big boy bed,” as his parents so often referred to it. Although it was pleasing to the ego, the alliteration had always graded upon Nick’s ears. Couldn’t they come up with something a tad more creative? Maybe he was being too harsh. They were only parents after all.
Another thing which detracted from the joy which might have been contracted from his cot being referred to as a “big boy bed” was the obvious truth the phrase overlooked: Nick was barred it. The only way in or out of the bed was via a small set of steps at the foot; miles away from his head. There was not even the POSSIBILITY of danger while he slept. Nick longed to life on the edge, like Kevin! He slept in a bed that stood well off the floor. If the bed had been outside, Nick would have bet money that there would be clouds covering the top. The kicker came when Kevin had shown Nick that he had no railings to protect him from falling through the stratosphere and onto the bedroom floor.
Alas, it was not to be. Nick was in a bed that barely ascended to the troposphere; ruminating on the pain his choice not to ingest green goop had caused him. Specifically his rear. The sharp sting, however, had been decreasing in stingyness in recent months. This was also proportionate to the number of frank disagreements he had had with his parents over said months. He had yet to put two and two together though.
Gleaming throw his window, the stars winked at Nick, as if they knew something he did not. Not as far fetched as it seemed at first. This got Nick to thinking: maybe there were other little boys over by those stars who disliked green food and cried when birds died.
He suddenly remembered that he had not said his prayers. His mother had obviously been so irate that she had quite forgotten to remind him. She would have to be informed of this shortcoming in the morning! Desperate to rectify the situation, Nick began the arduous journey to the end of his bed, and decent down the three stairs to the floor.
After several minutes, which felt like hours, Nick was safely on the taupe colored carpet without being detected by his parents. He started with what was on the forefront of his mind:
“Dear God, please no more green stuff!” After realizing a fatal error in his prayer, he tried to desperately salvage his meaning: “Food, me mean food! Not all stuff. I like green stuff. I like green ova-alls!”
Smiling at his quick thinking, he continued: “Thanks for sissy. Make her not so mean. Keep bad boys away from her too. Spank bad boys!”
He struggled to come up with something else, racking his brains for the prayers that his family often used. “Make Mommy and Daddy safe. Make them love each other.” Nick wasn’t sure why this was important to pray for, since it seemed so obvious that Mommy and Daddy DID indeed love each other. But it was something which Ferra prayed for often, and he didn’t have anyone better to emulate in his prayers.
“Make me sleep good, and all the other big boys on planets far away.
“Amen!”
Nick then began the long journey back to his pillow, and then slept soundly.