original by montisello
Remix Title: Goodnight Nobody (The Nightmare in My Closet remix)
Remix Author: meredevachon
Original Story: Goodnight Nobody
Original Author: montisello
Rating: PG
Summary: Why would anybody want to read a stupid book that tells you it's okay to let a monster into your bed???
There used to be a nightmare in my closet.
Before going to sleep, I always closed the closet door.
Dad scooped up Sammy and let him dangle for a minute, his arms and legs wriggling all over the place while he laughed and squealed, then bent down enough to look Dean in the eyes. "You boys be good for Miss Eleanor while I'm gone, you hear? I'll be back before lunch on Sunday, and then maybe we'll go get a treat… if you've been good."
"Milkshakes! We want milkshakes!" Sammy's shout was a lot louder than Dean's yes, sir, but Dad nodded, a grown-up sharp message received before turning his attention back to Sammy.
"Milkshakes? I don't know… you gotta be really, really good to get milkshakes. You gotta eat your dinner. And go to bed on time without fussing. And do what Miss Eleanor says. And not fight with your brother. Do you think you can do that?"
"Yep! We'll be good, won't we, Dean? I'm gonna get chocolate!"
"Don’t you worry about these angels a bit, John. We'll get along just fine." Miss Eleanor smiled at Dad, then ruffled Dean's hair like he was a little kid. "You just have a safe trip, sell lots and lots, and we'll be here waiting for you."
Dad hugged Dean and Sammy one more time, then got in the car and drove away. Miss Eleanor thought he was a traveling salesman. Everybody did. But Dean knew the truth. Dad wasn't selling anything; he was going to track down a werewolf and kill it. Dean wasn't supposed to know what Dad was hunting, but he'd seen some of Dad's papers. That werewolf wouldn't know what hit it. Dad could kill anything.
"Why don't you boys go play in the backyard until I finish getting supper ready?"
The backyard was kind of cool. It had a jungle gym and some toys and was all fenced in, so Sammy couldn't wander off. Miss Eleanor said the toys had been her grandson's, but he moved far away, so Sammy and Dean could play with them whenever they wanted. It was Miss Eleanor's house, and she lived downstairs. Dad and Sammy and Dean moved in upstairs a couple weeks before, and she had offered to look after them whenever Dad had to go on his trips.
I was even afraid to turn around and look.
When I was safe in bed, I'd peek… sometimes.
"Okay, boys. One story, and then it's time for bed. I've got a book I think you'll like. I'll go get it while you get upstairs and under the covers."
"Two stories, Miss Eleanor. Dean always reads one and then Daddy reads one. You can read Daddy's tonight… if you want."
By the time Miss Eleanor came into their room, Dean had helped Sammy pick out a book, gotten him all tucked in, and was almost done checking the windows - just like Dad did.
Then he saw what book she was carrying.
"Sammy doesn't like that one." Dean sounded kind of loud, even to him, and Sammy looked confused, first at Dean then at the book.
Miss Eleanor looked confused too. "But it's a really good book. It was one of Jason's favorites. And it's not scary at all, I promise."
"Sammy. Doesn't. Like it. Do you, Sammy?"
"Nope." Sammy shook his head, then looked up at Dean, a funny almost smile on his face. "Me and Dean don't like that book."
"Dean and I don't like that book, Sam."
That was teacher-voice, but Dean jumped on the chance. "See? None of us like it. I'll pick out a different one for you to read.
Once they got all that settled, Dean read Harold and the Purple Crayon and Miss Eleanor read Goodnight Moon... with Dean helping out, trying to make the voices just like Dad did, since Miss Eleanor did it wrong. Then it was lights out. Miss Eleanor left the door to the stairs open so they could call her during the night if they needed anything - they wouldn't - and lay on Sammy's bed until Sammy went to sleep, then moved across the room to his own. This was the first place they'd lived with separate beds since Sammy outgrew his crib, and Sammy still had a hard time falling asleep unless Dean was there with him. But Dad said he'd get used to it in time, as long as Dean slept in his own bed instead of staying in Sammy's all night.
One night I decided to get rid of my nightmare once and for all.
As soon as the room was dark, I heard him creeping toward me.
Quickly I turned on the light and caught him sitting at the foot of my bed.
Sammy was still asleep when Miss Eleanor woke Dean up for school. He slept through Dean getting dressed and finding his homework… and Sammy never did that.
"C'mon Sammy. You better get up or I'm gonna eat all the Luc-"
Miss Eleanor pulled Dean away from Sammy's bed. "Oh, don't wake him, Dean. He looks so sweet like this. And little boys need lots of sleep… or they get cranky."
Cranky Sammy was never fun, but Miss Eleanor was still nuts. "But if he wakes up and I'm not here, he'll be scared. And that's lots worse than being cranky."
Dean threw himself on Sammy's bed before Miss Eleanor could stop him, careful not to land on him… too much. "Wake up, sleepyhead!"
Sammy scrunched and twisted until he was sitting tangled in the covers. He blinked, and blinked again, then rubbed his eyes with his tiny fists. "Dean?"
"Up and at 'em, Sa-" Dean frowned. Sammy looked kind of pale, smaller than usual. "Hey, are you okay, buddy?"
Sammy nodded, but Dean still wasn't sure. His little brother was never that quiet first thing in the morning. Not without Dean having to bribe him.
"Sammy's sick, Miss Eleanor. I gotta stay home to take care of him." Dean tossed his bookbag next to his bed and started to wriggle his foot out of his shoe.
"Nonsense! He's just sleepy because you woke him up too early. He's fine. Besides, I'll be here taking care of him the whole time you're in school. Now let's go get your breakfast so you're not late for the bus."
She steered Dean out of the bedroom and down the hall. When he looked back, Sammy was trailing after them, dragging his pillow behind him, still too quiet, but maybe not looking quite as sick as he had at first.
Breakfast was eggs and biscuits and a banana each. Miss Eleanor said they were out of cereal, but Dean knew that wasn't true, because Dad had just bought some on Tuesday. She must have hidden it. So it was her own fault when Sammy wouldn't eat anything except his banana, no matter what she said. Dean swiped the biscuit from Sammy's plate, and she started to fuss about it, until Sammy stole it back and started eating it. Then she must've needed something else to worry about, because she went on and on about how tangled Sammy's hair had gotten. She said it looked like a rat's nest. And it did look kind of messy. Normally Sammy wouldn't sit still long enough for anybody but Dean to comb it, but he was running late, so Miss Eleanor had to deal with it all by herself. Dean wasn't sure who he felt sorrier for.
"Go away, Nightmare, or I'll shoot you," I said.
I shot him anyway.
Sammy acted like he felt okay when Dean got home from school, and they spent most of the afternoon in the backyard playing. After supper, Miss Eleanor let them watch TV until it was time for a bath - her idea, not theirs - and before long it was time for bed.
Sammy had a hard time climbing into bed with There's a Wocket in My Pocket in one hand and Goodnight Moon in the other, but he wouldn’t let go of either of them even to let Dean hold them until Sammy was settled.
"Oh. You picked out your books already." Miss Eleanor seemed surprised, and she had that book with her again even though Dean and Sammy already told her they didn't like it. "I thought maybe Sammy would like this one tonight. He didn't get scared when we read it at nap-time, did you Sammy?"
Sammy shook his head. "I didn't get scared. Nope, nope. I was a big boy like Dean."
"It's a stupid book. Only stupid people let monsters get in bed with them. You're supposed to shoot monsters, not sleep with them!"
"Only if they're bad monsters," Miss Eleanor laughed. She had a nice laugh, or it would have been, if she hadn't been laughing at Dean. "But you're a big boy, Dean, so you have to help me teach Sammy monsters aren't real - just like wockets and wosets and so he doesn't have to be afraid of the dark."
No way Dean was going to teach Sammy that, but he couldn't tell Sammy the truth either. That's why he didn't want her to read that stupid book in the first place. But arguing with Miss Eleanor wouldn't have done much good. Luckily Sammy wanted the books he and Dean had picked out, only wanted those. Bedtime stories got read without any more trouble, and Dean stayed in Sammy's bed just long enough for him to fall asleep.
It was a long time later when the sound of crying woke Dean up. The light from the hall wasn't very bright, but enough so Dean could look across the room to Sammy's bed. Weird shadows flickered on the wall, but Sammy was sprawled out, taking up almost half the bed, with the covers kicked down to the end. Dean didn't hear it anymore, but he was sure he'd heard Sammy crying. So he got up and moved over to Sammy's bed, trying to be quiet, but moving quick over the cold floor. Sammy's bed was even colder than the floor, so Dean climbed in beside him, snuggling close and pulling up the covers. Sammy warmed up fast once Dean was curled up around him, and even though Dean tried to keep watch, soon he was fast asleep too.
My nightmare began to cry.
I was mad… but not too mad.
Saturday morning, and Sammy was even harder to wake up, even with Dean having to climb over him to get out of bed before Miss Eleanor saw him sleeping in Sammy's bed. He followed Dean out to the living room and curled up on the couch with his pillow, and slept more than he watched, which really wasn't fair. Normally he threw a fit if he didn't get to see The Snorks, but if Dean had known Sammy wasn't even going to watch, he would have picked Scooby instead.
Sammy was a little better before lunch, begging Dean over and over to color with him or asking when Dad was going to be home, but he was still kind of quiet. Miss Eleanor said there was nothing wrong with him, he was just tired, but Dean wished Dad was home. He would have known if something was really wrong.
For once Sammy didn't argue when it was time for his nap, and if that didn't tell Miss I-Know-Better-Than-You-Just-Because-I'm-Old he was sick, Dean didn't know what would. He was trying to explain that to her when the phone rang. Dean ran to answer it before she could get to it.
"Dad?"
"Hey, Deano, how's it going?"
"Sammy's sick, and Miss Eleanor won't listen to me. Can you come home?"
"I think maybe he just misses you, John," Miss Eleanor butted in from the phone in the kitchen. "He's a little bit quiet, is all. But he isn't running a fever. He's not coughing or sneezing or anything else. Don't worry. Dean and I can take care of things until you get back tomorrow. Right, Dean?"
Dean didn't know what to say. He wanted his dad home. But his dad's job was important, and werewolves were really dangerous. It was just one more day, and Dean could take care of Sammy… right?
"I'll look after Sammy, Dad." Dean hoped his dad didn't hear how shaky he sounded when he said it.
"I know you will, dude. And Miss Eleanor's probably right, and it's nothing. But I'll talk to you again before you go to bed, okay? Just to make sure he's feeling all right. And I'll be home as soon as I finish up here. I promise."
"Nightmare, be quiet or you'll wake Mommy and Daddy," I said.
Dad called again, just like he said he would, while Dean and Sammy were brushing their teeth. Not that Dean really had anything new to tell him. Sammy had been okay after he got up from his nap. Sammy was happy he got to talk to Dad, and he went on and on telling Dad everything he'd done since Dad left. Dean hardly got to talk at all… but Miss Eleanor got to talk to him even less. Just when she answered the phone, and then at the end, Dad told Sammy and Dean goodnight and told Dean to put Miss Eleanor back on the phone while he put Sammy to bed. But whatever Dad said it wasn't much, because she came in before Sammy was even tucked in.
He wouldn't stop crying so I took him by the hand
and tucked him in bed
and closed the closet door.
"Hey… wake up, little man."
The one thing that would always wake up Dean, his dad's voice… but dad said he wouldn't be back until the next day. But there he was, leaning over Sammy's bed - and Dean wasn't supposed to be there, but he must have fallen asleep - gently shaking Dean awake.
"You think there's room for all three of us in here? Scootch over."
Dean moved, still mostly asleep, but doing what his dad asked. Dad tossed that stupid book off the bed to make room and sat down near the end so his back was against the wall. "That'll work. Now go back to sleep. We don't want to wake up your brother. We can talk in the morning."
I suppose there's another nightmare in my closet, but my bed's not big enough for three.
The next morning, they didn't talk. Not really. Dad just packed up the car and said it was time to leave. They didn't even stay long to say good-bye to Miss Eleanor, even when Sammy wanted to and cried when Dad wouldn't let him. But Dad was back, and he said Sammy was going to be just fine…
so who cared about stupid old Miss Eleanor?
*Italicized lines from There's a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer
Remix Author: meredevachon
Original Story: Goodnight Nobody
Original Author: montisello
Rating: PG
Summary: Why would anybody want to read a stupid book that tells you it's okay to let a monster into your bed???
There used to be a nightmare in my closet.
Before going to sleep, I always closed the closet door.
Dad scooped up Sammy and let him dangle for a minute, his arms and legs wriggling all over the place while he laughed and squealed, then bent down enough to look Dean in the eyes. "You boys be good for Miss Eleanor while I'm gone, you hear? I'll be back before lunch on Sunday, and then maybe we'll go get a treat… if you've been good."
"Milkshakes! We want milkshakes!" Sammy's shout was a lot louder than Dean's yes, sir, but Dad nodded, a grown-up sharp message received before turning his attention back to Sammy.
"Milkshakes? I don't know… you gotta be really, really good to get milkshakes. You gotta eat your dinner. And go to bed on time without fussing. And do what Miss Eleanor says. And not fight with your brother. Do you think you can do that?"
"Yep! We'll be good, won't we, Dean? I'm gonna get chocolate!"
"Don’t you worry about these angels a bit, John. We'll get along just fine." Miss Eleanor smiled at Dad, then ruffled Dean's hair like he was a little kid. "You just have a safe trip, sell lots and lots, and we'll be here waiting for you."
Dad hugged Dean and Sammy one more time, then got in the car and drove away. Miss Eleanor thought he was a traveling salesman. Everybody did. But Dean knew the truth. Dad wasn't selling anything; he was going to track down a werewolf and kill it. Dean wasn't supposed to know what Dad was hunting, but he'd seen some of Dad's papers. That werewolf wouldn't know what hit it. Dad could kill anything.
"Why don't you boys go play in the backyard until I finish getting supper ready?"
The backyard was kind of cool. It had a jungle gym and some toys and was all fenced in, so Sammy couldn't wander off. Miss Eleanor said the toys had been her grandson's, but he moved far away, so Sammy and Dean could play with them whenever they wanted. It was Miss Eleanor's house, and she lived downstairs. Dad and Sammy and Dean moved in upstairs a couple weeks before, and she had offered to look after them whenever Dad had to go on his trips.
I was even afraid to turn around and look.
When I was safe in bed, I'd peek… sometimes.
"Okay, boys. One story, and then it's time for bed. I've got a book I think you'll like. I'll go get it while you get upstairs and under the covers."
"Two stories, Miss Eleanor. Dean always reads one and then Daddy reads one. You can read Daddy's tonight… if you want."
By the time Miss Eleanor came into their room, Dean had helped Sammy pick out a book, gotten him all tucked in, and was almost done checking the windows - just like Dad did.
Then he saw what book she was carrying.
"Sammy doesn't like that one." Dean sounded kind of loud, even to him, and Sammy looked confused, first at Dean then at the book.
Miss Eleanor looked confused too. "But it's a really good book. It was one of Jason's favorites. And it's not scary at all, I promise."
"Sammy. Doesn't. Like it. Do you, Sammy?"
"Nope." Sammy shook his head, then looked up at Dean, a funny almost smile on his face. "Me and Dean don't like that book."
"Dean and I don't like that book, Sam."
That was teacher-voice, but Dean jumped on the chance. "See? None of us like it. I'll pick out a different one for you to read.
Once they got all that settled, Dean read Harold and the Purple Crayon and Miss Eleanor read Goodnight Moon... with Dean helping out, trying to make the voices just like Dad did, since Miss Eleanor did it wrong. Then it was lights out. Miss Eleanor left the door to the stairs open so they could call her during the night if they needed anything - they wouldn't - and lay on Sammy's bed until Sammy went to sleep, then moved across the room to his own. This was the first place they'd lived with separate beds since Sammy outgrew his crib, and Sammy still had a hard time falling asleep unless Dean was there with him. But Dad said he'd get used to it in time, as long as Dean slept in his own bed instead of staying in Sammy's all night.
One night I decided to get rid of my nightmare once and for all.
As soon as the room was dark, I heard him creeping toward me.
Quickly I turned on the light and caught him sitting at the foot of my bed.
Sammy was still asleep when Miss Eleanor woke Dean up for school. He slept through Dean getting dressed and finding his homework… and Sammy never did that.
"C'mon Sammy. You better get up or I'm gonna eat all the Luc-"
Miss Eleanor pulled Dean away from Sammy's bed. "Oh, don't wake him, Dean. He looks so sweet like this. And little boys need lots of sleep… or they get cranky."
Cranky Sammy was never fun, but Miss Eleanor was still nuts. "But if he wakes up and I'm not here, he'll be scared. And that's lots worse than being cranky."
Dean threw himself on Sammy's bed before Miss Eleanor could stop him, careful not to land on him… too much. "Wake up, sleepyhead!"
Sammy scrunched and twisted until he was sitting tangled in the covers. He blinked, and blinked again, then rubbed his eyes with his tiny fists. "Dean?"
"Up and at 'em, Sa-" Dean frowned. Sammy looked kind of pale, smaller than usual. "Hey, are you okay, buddy?"
Sammy nodded, but Dean still wasn't sure. His little brother was never that quiet first thing in the morning. Not without Dean having to bribe him.
"Sammy's sick, Miss Eleanor. I gotta stay home to take care of him." Dean tossed his bookbag next to his bed and started to wriggle his foot out of his shoe.
"Nonsense! He's just sleepy because you woke him up too early. He's fine. Besides, I'll be here taking care of him the whole time you're in school. Now let's go get your breakfast so you're not late for the bus."
She steered Dean out of the bedroom and down the hall. When he looked back, Sammy was trailing after them, dragging his pillow behind him, still too quiet, but maybe not looking quite as sick as he had at first.
Breakfast was eggs and biscuits and a banana each. Miss Eleanor said they were out of cereal, but Dean knew that wasn't true, because Dad had just bought some on Tuesday. She must have hidden it. So it was her own fault when Sammy wouldn't eat anything except his banana, no matter what she said. Dean swiped the biscuit from Sammy's plate, and she started to fuss about it, until Sammy stole it back and started eating it. Then she must've needed something else to worry about, because she went on and on about how tangled Sammy's hair had gotten. She said it looked like a rat's nest. And it did look kind of messy. Normally Sammy wouldn't sit still long enough for anybody but Dean to comb it, but he was running late, so Miss Eleanor had to deal with it all by herself. Dean wasn't sure who he felt sorrier for.
"Go away, Nightmare, or I'll shoot you," I said.
I shot him anyway.
Sammy acted like he felt okay when Dean got home from school, and they spent most of the afternoon in the backyard playing. After supper, Miss Eleanor let them watch TV until it was time for a bath - her idea, not theirs - and before long it was time for bed.
Sammy had a hard time climbing into bed with There's a Wocket in My Pocket in one hand and Goodnight Moon in the other, but he wouldn’t let go of either of them even to let Dean hold them until Sammy was settled.
"Oh. You picked out your books already." Miss Eleanor seemed surprised, and she had that book with her again even though Dean and Sammy already told her they didn't like it. "I thought maybe Sammy would like this one tonight. He didn't get scared when we read it at nap-time, did you Sammy?"
Sammy shook his head. "I didn't get scared. Nope, nope. I was a big boy like Dean."
"It's a stupid book. Only stupid people let monsters get in bed with them. You're supposed to shoot monsters, not sleep with them!"
"Only if they're bad monsters," Miss Eleanor laughed. She had a nice laugh, or it would have been, if she hadn't been laughing at Dean. "But you're a big boy, Dean, so you have to help me teach Sammy monsters aren't real - just like wockets and wosets and so he doesn't have to be afraid of the dark."
No way Dean was going to teach Sammy that, but he couldn't tell Sammy the truth either. That's why he didn't want her to read that stupid book in the first place. But arguing with Miss Eleanor wouldn't have done much good. Luckily Sammy wanted the books he and Dean had picked out, only wanted those. Bedtime stories got read without any more trouble, and Dean stayed in Sammy's bed just long enough for him to fall asleep.
It was a long time later when the sound of crying woke Dean up. The light from the hall wasn't very bright, but enough so Dean could look across the room to Sammy's bed. Weird shadows flickered on the wall, but Sammy was sprawled out, taking up almost half the bed, with the covers kicked down to the end. Dean didn't hear it anymore, but he was sure he'd heard Sammy crying. So he got up and moved over to Sammy's bed, trying to be quiet, but moving quick over the cold floor. Sammy's bed was even colder than the floor, so Dean climbed in beside him, snuggling close and pulling up the covers. Sammy warmed up fast once Dean was curled up around him, and even though Dean tried to keep watch, soon he was fast asleep too.
My nightmare began to cry.
I was mad… but not too mad.
Saturday morning, and Sammy was even harder to wake up, even with Dean having to climb over him to get out of bed before Miss Eleanor saw him sleeping in Sammy's bed. He followed Dean out to the living room and curled up on the couch with his pillow, and slept more than he watched, which really wasn't fair. Normally he threw a fit if he didn't get to see The Snorks, but if Dean had known Sammy wasn't even going to watch, he would have picked Scooby instead.
Sammy was a little better before lunch, begging Dean over and over to color with him or asking when Dad was going to be home, but he was still kind of quiet. Miss Eleanor said there was nothing wrong with him, he was just tired, but Dean wished Dad was home. He would have known if something was really wrong.
For once Sammy didn't argue when it was time for his nap, and if that didn't tell Miss I-Know-Better-Than-You-Just-Because-I'm-Old he was sick, Dean didn't know what would. He was trying to explain that to her when the phone rang. Dean ran to answer it before she could get to it.
"Dad?"
"Hey, Deano, how's it going?"
"Sammy's sick, and Miss Eleanor won't listen to me. Can you come home?"
"I think maybe he just misses you, John," Miss Eleanor butted in from the phone in the kitchen. "He's a little bit quiet, is all. But he isn't running a fever. He's not coughing or sneezing or anything else. Don't worry. Dean and I can take care of things until you get back tomorrow. Right, Dean?"
Dean didn't know what to say. He wanted his dad home. But his dad's job was important, and werewolves were really dangerous. It was just one more day, and Dean could take care of Sammy… right?
"I'll look after Sammy, Dad." Dean hoped his dad didn't hear how shaky he sounded when he said it.
"I know you will, dude. And Miss Eleanor's probably right, and it's nothing. But I'll talk to you again before you go to bed, okay? Just to make sure he's feeling all right. And I'll be home as soon as I finish up here. I promise."
"Nightmare, be quiet or you'll wake Mommy and Daddy," I said.
Dad called again, just like he said he would, while Dean and Sammy were brushing their teeth. Not that Dean really had anything new to tell him. Sammy had been okay after he got up from his nap. Sammy was happy he got to talk to Dad, and he went on and on telling Dad everything he'd done since Dad left. Dean hardly got to talk at all… but Miss Eleanor got to talk to him even less. Just when she answered the phone, and then at the end, Dad told Sammy and Dean goodnight and told Dean to put Miss Eleanor back on the phone while he put Sammy to bed. But whatever Dad said it wasn't much, because she came in before Sammy was even tucked in.
He wouldn't stop crying so I took him by the hand
and tucked him in bed
and closed the closet door.
"Hey… wake up, little man."
The one thing that would always wake up Dean, his dad's voice… but dad said he wouldn't be back until the next day. But there he was, leaning over Sammy's bed - and Dean wasn't supposed to be there, but he must have fallen asleep - gently shaking Dean awake.
"You think there's room for all three of us in here? Scootch over."
Dean moved, still mostly asleep, but doing what his dad asked. Dad tossed that stupid book off the bed to make room and sat down near the end so his back was against the wall. "That'll work. Now go back to sleep. We don't want to wake up your brother. We can talk in the morning."
I suppose there's another nightmare in my closet, but my bed's not big enough for three.
The next morning, they didn't talk. Not really. Dad just packed up the car and said it was time to leave. They didn't even stay long to say good-bye to Miss Eleanor, even when Sammy wanted to and cried when Dad wouldn't let him. But Dad was back, and he said Sammy was going to be just fine…
so who cared about stupid old Miss Eleanor?
*Italicized lines from There's a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer