Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep - Gabriel Gray ficlet
Character: Gabriel Gray and Virginia
Genre: Gen
Author: sylar
Fandom: Heroes
Word count: 523
Rating: G
Prompt: Bedtime
Notes: Gabriel's first night at home. This is also my application for theatrical_muse.
She was watching me from the doorway. She’d been really nice to me a lot nicer than my new Daddy had been. But I didn’t know what to do. My new room was smaller than my old one. We were in the city now, and there weren’t any snake fingers blowing in the wind outside my window. There was the roar of a dragon, and it shook the building. My new mommy said that was the train and that I shouldn’t be afraid. She didn’t understand me. I wasn’t afraid. I was cold. I couldn’t feel anything. All I could do was stand in my new room and shiver.
“Gabriel, you need to say your prayers now and go to bed,” she said, coming into the room behind me and kissing the top of my head. I wanted to like it. She was warm, and she wanted me. I could feel her need for me like the warmth from the sun. “Do you know your prayers?”
“Nuh uh,” I said, looking up at her through my glasses to see her frowning down at me.
“Well,” she said with a huff, taking my hand to lead me to the bed. She sat on the covers that were dark blue with pretty stars on it and moons. It was like space, and I like space. “Then I’ll teach you. No son of mine will be going to bed without saying his prayers. Have you been to church, Gabriel?”
“No,” my voice shrank, and I felt my face grow hot. She was disappointed and angry, and I didn’t want that. She might decide that she didn’t want me. The trembling got worse when she told me to kneel next to the bed on the hardwood floor. I clasped my hands together the way she said, and then watched her wide-eyed as she got onto the floor next to me.
“We’ll start out with the basics. Tomorrow I’ll take you to church. You’re probably not even baptized.” I didn’t have an answer to that. I’d never been to church that I knew of, and I wasn’t sure what the other thing was either. She reached for my hands and gave them a gentle squeeze and then kissed my forehead. “Copy what I say to learn the words, OK?”
“OK,” I said, sucking my lip between my teeth. I knew that I had to get it right to make her happy, so I concentrated on her words to remember them.
“Now I lay me down to sleep,” she said.
“Now, I lay me down to sleep,” I parroted, copying each line of the prayer as she droned on.
“Amen.”
“Amen.” I didn’t want to die in my sleep. Why would the Lord, whoever he was, care about me? I’m just a little boy. I wanted to know the answers, but when I opened my mouth to ask, mommy frowned at me again.
“Under the covers, Gabriel. Church in the morning, and we’ll see about having you properly baptized too.” She bent over me in the bed after tucking the covers tight under my chin. “Good night, my angel.”
***
Thanks for reading. Comments = crack.
Genre: Gen
Author: sylar
Fandom: Heroes
Word count: 523
Rating: G
Prompt: Bedtime
Notes: Gabriel's first night at home. This is also my application for theatrical_muse.
She was watching me from the doorway. She’d been really nice to me a lot nicer than my new Daddy had been. But I didn’t know what to do. My new room was smaller than my old one. We were in the city now, and there weren’t any snake fingers blowing in the wind outside my window. There was the roar of a dragon, and it shook the building. My new mommy said that was the train and that I shouldn’t be afraid. She didn’t understand me. I wasn’t afraid. I was cold. I couldn’t feel anything. All I could do was stand in my new room and shiver.
“Gabriel, you need to say your prayers now and go to bed,” she said, coming into the room behind me and kissing the top of my head. I wanted to like it. She was warm, and she wanted me. I could feel her need for me like the warmth from the sun. “Do you know your prayers?”
“Nuh uh,” I said, looking up at her through my glasses to see her frowning down at me.
“Well,” she said with a huff, taking my hand to lead me to the bed. She sat on the covers that were dark blue with pretty stars on it and moons. It was like space, and I like space. “Then I’ll teach you. No son of mine will be going to bed without saying his prayers. Have you been to church, Gabriel?”
“No,” my voice shrank, and I felt my face grow hot. She was disappointed and angry, and I didn’t want that. She might decide that she didn’t want me. The trembling got worse when she told me to kneel next to the bed on the hardwood floor. I clasped my hands together the way she said, and then watched her wide-eyed as she got onto the floor next to me.
“We’ll start out with the basics. Tomorrow I’ll take you to church. You’re probably not even baptized.” I didn’t have an answer to that. I’d never been to church that I knew of, and I wasn’t sure what the other thing was either. She reached for my hands and gave them a gentle squeeze and then kissed my forehead. “Copy what I say to learn the words, OK?”
“OK,” I said, sucking my lip between my teeth. I knew that I had to get it right to make her happy, so I concentrated on her words to remember them.
“Now I lay me down to sleep,” she said.
“Now, I lay me down to sleep,” I parroted, copying each line of the prayer as she droned on.
“Amen.”
“Amen.” I didn’t want to die in my sleep. Why would the Lord, whoever he was, care about me? I’m just a little boy. I wanted to know the answers, but when I opened my mouth to ask, mommy frowned at me again.
“Under the covers, Gabriel. Church in the morning, and we’ll see about having you properly baptized too.” She bent over me in the bed after tucking the covers tight under my chin. “Good night, my angel.”
***
Thanks for reading. Comments = crack.