It had been a long and busy day. The whole Oliver family was relaxing on the couch and watching TV: Mommy, Daddy, Xanthe and little Xaria. Xanthe was exhausted. She kept yawning, and she could barely keep her eyes open. "Sweetheart." suggested Mommy after she had yawned for about the hundredth time. "If you are so tired why don't you go up and go to bed?"
"Okay, Mommy." replied Xanthe. She really was tired, and she couldn't wait to lie down in her nice soft bed and go to sleep. Just thinking of it made her smile. "Goodnight, Daddy." she said kissing him on the check. "Goodnight, Mommy." she added kissing Mommy on the check too.
"Do you need one of us to tuck you in?" asked Mommy.
Xanthe shook her head and shuffled off to bed.
As soon as Xanthe had disappeared up the stairs, Xaria eagerly turned to her parents. "Well, what are were going to do now?" she asked excitedly as if Xanthe going to bed meant it was now party time.
Mommy and Daddy just shook their heads. They couldn't believe Xaria was not at all tired. Even they were exhausted and couldn't wait to go to bed after they finished a few last minute things. "Don't you want to go to bed too?" asked Daddy. "It's been a long day."
Xaria shook her head. "Nah, I'm good." she assured them. "What else do you want to do?"
"Let me put it another way." Daddy told her. "It's time for bed."
Xaria frowned. "But, I am not tired!" she insisted.
"It's bed time anyway." Mommy informed her. "Do you want one of us to tuck you in?"
"No!" exclaimed Xaria not because she was trying to act like her big sister as usual but because she was mad. She angrily stormed up the stairs. When she went in the room she shared with her sister, Xanthe was already in bed and fast sleep.
Xaria got in her own bed, but she did not go to sleep. First she played with the dolls and stuffed animals that she kept on her bed. Then, she made shadow puppets on the wall. Then, she hung upside down over the side of her bed and stared at the ceiling. After a while, she got bored.
For a little while, she didn't know what to do, but then she got an idea. "I know! I'll read." she decided. She looked through a bunch of the books on her shelves for a while, but then she got bored with that. "These are baby book!" she declared.
Xaria wanted to read big girl books so she decided to read some of her sisters books instead. Xanthe was already reading short chapter books. Xanthe's book shelves were on the wall next to her bed. Xaria couldn't reach them so she got up on her sister's bed and stood on her tiptoes. "Not this one!" she said grabbing a book off the shelve and gently tossing it on the bed. "Not this one either." she declared grabbing and discarding another. Finally, she found a book she liked. She sat down on the bed and flipped through the book but quickly got bored because it didn't have enough pictures. She discarded the book on Xanthe's bed and chose another. She quickly got bored of that one too so she chose yet another. She kept doing that until the entire book shelf was empty except for one book. She reached for it and grabbed it but it slid out of her fingers and went crashing to the floor with a loud thud.
Xaria looked at Xanthe but luckily she was a very deep sleeper and didn't even stir. Xaria was relieved, but her relief didn't last long as she heard Mommy and Daddy hurrying up the stairs. They must have heard the noise and were coming to see what it was. Xaria didn't want to get in trouble for being out of bed when she was supposed to be sleeping so she quickly dove into her bed and under the covers just as they reached the door.
Mommy and Daddy peaked in the room, but it was really dark so they didn't see anything. They couldn't imagine what had made the noise if both their girls were sleeping so peacefully. They tiptoed in the room just to check. As soon as they stepped into the room, they saw Xanthe peacefully sleeping covered and surrounded by a pile of books. They gave each other knowing looks and both said at the same time. "Xaria!"
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