Go to bed Sleepyhead

Go to Bed Sleepyhead



The characters in this story belong to the Disney movie Frozen and the song “Go to bed Sleepyhead” belongs to Disney’s original series “Bear in the Big Blue House” I do not claim either as my own.


The kingdom of Arendelle was as still as could be as the grey night skies looked down upon it, the shops were closed with their owners having been snuggled under their sheets for hours, the sea was nearly still with only gentle waves cascading to shore, the only noises on the docked ships were the occasional scamper of a rat as it searched for food and the cry of the nocturnal cat as it caught wind of its midnight meal, and with the clouds covering it not even the sky was awake, it was almost as though the sky too was sleeping and had been since early afternoon.

A sleeping sky was very good news for the king and queen, their youngest daughter, who was just under five years old, Princess Anna took an early fascination with the night sky and the northern lights that sometimes dazzled them, on nights when the skies put on dazzling displays of lights Anna would cheerfully tell her family “the sky’s awake!” and she wouldn’t go to bed until the sky was asleep, which is to say, free of lights. The royal family would always say “if the sky’s awake Anna’s wake” something Anna took to heart. Now on nights when the lights dazzled the sky late into the evening Anna would wake up her big sister (and best friend) Elsa and explain “the sky’s awake, so I’m awake, so we have to play!” and then either the king, queen, or a servant would be awakened by the two and find them engaged in some (very) late night play (usually in the snow Elsa would magically create). Even on nights when the sky was clear but free of lights Anna would stand at her window for hours on end waiting for the lights, on nights such as these the king and queen had learned to put their faith in Elsa who would sit with Anna, talk to Anna, entertain Anna, and eventually tire Anna out and take Anna to bed.

However tonight the sky was not awake, tonight even the sky slumbered peacefully behind the clouds and as mentioned before the king and queen loved these nights as a slumbering sky usually made for a sleepy Anna. So a sleeping sky meant everyone could sleep a little easier knowing that they would not wake up and find a winter wonderland inside the castle, the servants would not have to worry about slipping on the stairs the girls turned into an icy slide, the cooks would not find a small pillar of ice leading to the cookie jar, and the king would wake a little happier knowing he would not have to worry about any snow on his way to his study.

As for Princess Elsa she somewhat looked forward to a sleeping sky as well. Elsa loved her little sister to death and enjoyed their nighttime adventures very much but she also loved a peaceful night sleep where she was free to rest for another day and could do so a little easier knowing that her dreams would not be interrupted, “not tonight” she told herself “tonight it’s uninterrupted sleep, tonight I will not have to worry about Anna waking me up” she thought, she was wrong. However for the moment Elsa slept peacefully and dreamed lovely little dreams as she lay cozily and soundly under her sheets in what she thought would be uninterrupted sleep and uninterrupted dreams.

The trumpets sounded loudly as the squire stepped forward “her royal highness, Queen Elsa of Arendelle!” he announced. At that moment a grown Elsa entered the throne room, she was wearing an outfit very similar to the one she would one day wear as the Snow Queen, Elsa rode in on a steed made of snow which glistened in the light and once they got to the steps of the throne Elsa dismounted and the steed took its place before transforming into an icy throne which Elsa sat upon as the crowd cheered. “And now” the squire continued “her sister recently returned from her long journey around the world, our queen’s right hand, princess of our land, Princess Anna of Arendelle!” Anna too rode into the throne room but her horse was real and black, Anna wore garments from every place she visited making her look like a very tall toddler who’d gotten into the attics mismatched clothes in a game of dress up. Anna rode up to her sisters throne and bowed to her.

“No need for such formalities Anna” said Elsa as she beckoned her sister closer.

“Sorry Elsa” said Anna “I mean queen… I mean Elsa… I mean Queen Elsa” she finally said struggling to find the right words.

“It’s alright I know” said Elsa.

“I missed you so much” said Anna.

“I missed you as well” said Elsa hugging her sister. “And now that you’re back we can begin ruling Arendelle as one using the knowledge you’ve gained from your travels and my court to end all the evils which plague our kingdom.”

“Yes” said Anna “and we should start with this” she said pulling a scroll from nowhere “I got this from a witch in the swamps she told me it has the power to turn all vegetables into chocolate.”

“Perfect” said Elsa as she turned to her kingdom “no longer will evil Brussel Sprouts soil our meals” she announced as the crowd cheered. “From this day forward chocolate shall be served with every meal!” again the crowd cheered loudly.

“Now we need to think about how we’ll address the growing problem of evil tutors who yell and send you home with too much homework” Elsa told her sister.

“Elsa” said Anna.

“Yes what is it Anna?” asked Elsa as she looked toward her sister who seemed to be fading away as was the crowd and the throne room.

“Elsa!” Anna called more desperate.

“Anna what is it?” asked Elsa.

“Elsa!” Anna called before fading into nothingness along with everything else.

“Anna!” Elsa called.

“Elsa!” Anna’s voiced still called her but now it sounded younger. “Elsa!” called Anna which woke Elsa from her dreams but Elsa still refused to open her eyes.

“She is not getting me out of bed tonight” Elsa thought to herself.

“Elsa!” Anna called again.

“Go back to bed Anna!” Elsa responded.

“I can’t!” Anna responded with a sniffle.

That was when Elsa’s senses began to come to her and she noticed there was no little tot on her trying to shake her awake, Anna was calling from the other side of the room and Anna’s tone was completely different, it was the tone Elsa remembered from the time Anna had gotten stung by a bee. “Anna?” she called as she sat up in bed and called into the night, crying was the only response. “Anna?” Elsa called out again and again crying was the only response.

Now Elsa’s eight year old head was quickly filling with scenarios of what was wrong with Anna, “Is she hurt?” Elsa wondered as she quickly kicked her sheets off and got out of bed, she could still hear Anna crying and as she followed it in the darkness the way she said “go back to bed Anna” suddenly sounded much meaner. Elsa stepped on a few misplaced toys and stubbed her toe against Anna’s bed but didn’t notice, in the short walk between the beds Elsa knew only one thing, and that was that Anna needed her. Whether Anna needed someone to kiss an owie that she’d gotten rolling off of bed or, if it was really bad, rush to get their parents before it was too late Elsa didn’t know, she readied for both as she stood at her sisters bedside and vaguely saw a large, shivering, and Anna shaped lump under the blankets where the muffled cries could still be heard. “Anna?” Elsa called to the lump “is that you?” Crying was once again the only response Elsa got. Elsa turned on the lantern on Anna’s bedside table “I’m coming in” said Elsa as she ventured under Anna’s sheets, eventually finding her sister with eyes streaming with tears. “Anna?” she said again Anna looked at her sister for a moment before crawling to her and crying into Elsa’s chest. Elsa wrapped one arm around her frightened sister and began to rube her back and used her other arm to slowly stroke Anna’s hair. “Shhhhhhh” said Elsa soothingly “it’ll be okay, shhhhhhh Anna, it’s okay Anna shhhhhhh calm down, Elsa’s here to make it all better…”

Anna continued to cry for about ten minutes before she seemed to cry herself out, as Anna gave one last whimper followed by a sniffle and a hiccup Elsa pushed the sheets off of them “there we go” said Elsa happily “now, you wanna tell me what’s wrong?” she asked.

“I was in the forest but then everything was really, really dark and then everyone was gone” said Anna her eyes began to water a little as she added “you too.” Elsa took her sisters hand and let her squeeze so she would continue “and there was a monster” said Anna timidly as she suddenly gasped and looked around franticly “is he still here?” she asked fearfully.

“Anna, Anna, Anna” said Elsa as she took a tighter hold of the fear filled child “Anna, Anna, it’s okay Anna” said Elsa as she reached over to Anna’s nightstand, opened the drawer, and pulled out the hanky inside. Elsa dabbed Anna’s eyes before putting the hanky on the tot’s nose “blow” she said Anna did as she was told and Elsa placed the hanky on the nightstand “now Anna it’s okay you just had a nightmare” Elsa explained.

“A nightmare?” asked Anna timidly.

Elsa nodded “a nightmare is a really bad dream that scares you when you’re asleep” she explained.

“I don’t like nightmares” Anna whimpered as a stray tear escaped her left eye.

“No one does” said Elsa as she wiped the tear away. “Come on I know what you need” said Elsa leaping off the bed.

“Where are we going?” asked Anna as she slowly climbed down and took Elsa’s hand.

“Just trust me” said Elsa as she guided her sister out of the room.

Elsa took her sister down the spiral staircase and into the kitchens which luckily had plenty of lamps and once Elsa lit them all it was almost like the brightest day sun was shining in. The kitchen was a large round room lined with stone, most of the walls were covered with storage places for pots, pans, and dishes, there was a back room filled with bread, vegetables, and fruits and next to it was a stone chamber with ice to keep food that spoiled easily cold, there were also areas for preparing food and a small table where the cooks could rest.

Elsa sat her sister down at the table “wait here” she said as she went to the cabinets and took out a labeled jar of brown powder, she put it on the table along with a small spoon then returned to find the other things she needed. As Elsa gathered the items she needed Anna eyed the jar and licked her lips, Anna was just beginning to learn how to read and that jar was labeled with one of the few words she could read and one of her favorite words in the world, “Chocolate” Anna read happily after the word of the delicious confection there was another word she didn’t recognize but what could it matter? Anna twisted the jar opened and looked in for a minute, she’d never seen chocolate like this it looked like salt or ground up pepper but Anna didn’t waste too much thought on that, chocolate was chocolate right? Anna picked up the small spoon and scooped up as much of the strange chocolate.

Elsa had gathered two cups when she glanced over at the table “Anna please make sure that spoon stays….” Elsa began before she saw what Anna was doing “Anna wait!” she called. Too late, Anna brought the scoop to her lips and flipped the entire contents of the spoon into her mouth before closing and smiling, then her lips puckered and she looked wide eyed then she started coughing and gagging. Elsa put her items on the counter before grabbing one of the ragged napkins nobody would miss and running to Anna “here, spit it here” Elsa instructed. Desperate to get the horrible taste out of her mouth Anna complied and spit out a large lump of the chocolate “ah the joys of sisterhood” said Elsa sarcastically to herself as she wrapped up the lump and threw it in the trash.

“Elsa the yucky taste is in my mouth!” said Anna as she began to swipe her fingers on her tongue.

“Be right there” said Elsa as she grabbed a glass and filled it with water from the water barrel before taking it to Anna “here swish it around but don’t…” Elsa began but Anna already grabbed the water, swished it around, and guzzled it down when this was done she felt the taste in her throat “swallow it” Elsa finished.

“Elsa that chocolate tastes horrible” Anna told her sister.

Elsa giggled and picked up the jar “this is powdered chocolate Anna” Elsa told her sister “on its own it’s very bitter” said Elsa.

“I’ll say!” said Anna.

“But when it’s mixed with something else…” Elsa began “you know let me show you” she said as she went into the stone room fumbled around for a while before she found exactly what she was looking for “ah ha” she declared picking up a sack filled with icing left over from the last cake that the cooks had made. Elsa brought the icing sack out of the stone room along with a large pitcher of milk, then she went to the counter and picked up the two cups and returned to the table.

“What are you doing?” asked Anna curiously.

“You’ll see” said Elsa “you wanna help?” she added Anna nodded enthusiastically. Elsa took the tiny clip from one of the bottom corners of the sack exposing the tiny hole used for distributing the icing. “Okay” said Elsa handing the sack to her sister “think you can fill it up to about here?” she asked placing her finger about three quarters of an from the bottom of the cup. Anna nodded happily and put a firm grip on the sack “but don’t…” Elsa began once again before a generous amount of cream came out of the sack all at once falling into the glass with a splat splashing the girls, “squeeze too hard” Elsa finished with a sigh.

“I’m sorry Elsa” said Anna sadly.

“It’s okay” said Elsa putting a supportive hand on Anna’s shoulder “accidents happen” she assured. Elsa then began to examine the cup and said “and it looks like you only went a little bit over where I wanted” she was somewhat fibbing but Anna didn’t need to know that. “And that splash gave us both a little treat” Elsa laughed as she skimmed her cheeks with her fingers to get the icing and licking her fingers clean. Anna smiled and attempted to get the icing off her face by licking it off, Elsa chuckled and watched her sister try to stretch her tongue across her cheeks icing.  Anna could be so cute sometimes. “Anna it’s easier if you use your hand” Elsa explained.

“Oh” said Anna as she skimmed her face with her whole hand rather than her fingers, once again Elsa chuckled.

“Okay now” said Elsa as she put the cup aside and placing the other one under the sack, “this time carefully” she said. Anna nodded and this time slowly tightened her grip on the sack and the icing came out slowly. “That’s it, that’s it” said Elsa encouragingly “a little more and… perfect!” said Elsa as she put the clip back on the sack and put the cup next to its twin. “Now” said Elsa putting the sack aside and picking up the pitcher of milk, Elsa filled each cup to just a little under the rim before she put the pitcher down. “Now the powder” said Elsa as she picked up the jar of chocolate powder and put a new spoon into it to scoop out a smaller amount of powder than Anna put in her mouth and distributed an equal amount to each cup. “Last but not least” said Elsa as she put the spoon in the cups and stirred, Anna watched in amazement as the white icing and milk in the cups turned a light brown.

“Oh!” said Anna looking at Elsa’s creation with the same childish wonder she showed each time Elsa used her powers.

Elsa chuckled and handed the drink with more icing to Anna “go ahead take a drink” she said.

Anna eyed the drink a little apprehensively as it was created by the powder that made a horrible taste in her mouth but Anna trusted Elsa more than anyone so she took a sip, and then Anna smiled widely and took a big gulp. “Mom showed me how to make this when I was your age” Elsa explained “she says it’s just the thing after a nightmare and it’ll always put you to sleep after a bad dream, I always called it “Sweet Dreams Tea” because I never had a nightmare when I drank it before bed” said Elsa. “Now whenever I have a bad dream I sneak down here and make a cup.”

“It’s good” said Anna as she happily glugged the whole thing down Elsa finished her own cup of Sweet Dreams Tea shortly after. “Now you wanna tell me more about your dream?” Elsa asked.

Anna frowned, remembering her nightmare “we went into the woods together but then everything got really dark and then you were gone and I was alone” said Anna as she began to tear up. “And there was a monster, with big teeth and red eyes and, and…” Anna went on.

Elsa got up from her seat, ran to Anna, and wrapped her arms around her sister “shhhhhhh, it’s okay” she said soothingly it took a minute but Anna stopped crying again. “Feel better?” Elsa asked Anna nodded “good” she said slowly releasing her sister. “Now Anna you should know I would never leave you in the forest or make you stay in any place that scared you” said Elsa.

“You wouldn’t?” asked Anna.

“Of course not” said Elsa “and there’s no such thing as monsters and even if there were I’d never let them touch you” she added.

“Really?” asked Anna timidly.

“Of course” said Elsa “nightmares aren’t real Anna they’re just little pictures that go on in our minds when we’re sleeping but they can’t hurt you.”

“Really?” asked Anna curiously.

“Really” Elsa promised “now how about we clean up here and head back upstairs?”

“Okay” said Anna carefully.

Anna helped Elsa put away the ingredients then the two princesses put the dirty cups and spoon into the washing area hoping the cooks would just think they missed a few dishes last night. The girls returned to their room and Elsa helped Anna into bed. “Good night Anna, I love you” said Elsa kissing her sister’s forehead, Elsa started to head to her own bed but found that Anna was still holding her hand rather tightly.

“Elsa what if the bad dream comes back?” asked Anna nervously.

“Anna it’s not real” Elsa reminded her sister.

“I know” said Anna “but the monster was really scary even for a dream, oh Elsa” said Anna. “Every time I go to bed, these monsters come around, with their scary faces making lots of scary sounds. I know they’re only in my mind but they make my head whirl, and they’re such big scary monsters and I’m just a little girl.” Anna sung sadly.

“Anna when monsters come into your head at night you just have to send them on their way” Elsa sung back.

“What do you mean Elsa?” Anna chimed back.

“Well, whenever I can’t sleep I think of things I like to do, like running through the halls or spending my time with you, I dream about tomorrow or bout what I did today, and pretty soon those monsters go away.” Elsa promised.

Anna looked doubtful “Really?”

Elsa just smiled “Really, go to bed sleepyhead dream of stories that we’ve read and think of all the things you’d like to do.”

Anna was still unsure “I don’t know Elsa.”

“Just go to bed you sleepyhead” Elsa paused “your dreams will watch over you.”

Anna thought for a moment “Well, I’ll give it a try” Anna paused to think. “Hey I’ll think of playing in the snow, or wishing on a star, or splashing through the mud, or eating cookies by the jar.”

“Yum” commented Elsa.

Anna pointed to an unseen force “so listen up you monsters, don’t you come into my mind.”

“This little girl is now the dreaming kind!” both girls sang happily “so go to bed sleepy head, dream of stories that we’ve read.”

Anna smiled “I’ll think of all the things I’d like to do.”

The sisters sing in harmony once more “Just go to bed you sleepy head.”

“Your dreams will watch over you” Elsa promised as Anna yawned. “Your dreams will watch…” she began before she noticed the sleeping child next to her “Anna?” she said before smiling and pulling the covers over both of them “Over you” she sang that final note as she too fell asleep.

Sweet dreams everyone.