The Sleep Taker

by Darren O'Sullivan

  “HANG ON N.J! Jack, what do we do?” said Jorge in a panic.

  “I don’t know” replied Jack.

  “Help! Help!” N.J. screamed from the top of the tree, “I don’t know how long I can hold on for”

  “Think Jorge, think” Jorge said to himself, trying to work out a solution.

  “I’m climbing up!” said Spike.

  “How? The branch we needed to climb up is broken” said Jorge.

  “And even if you could, the branch N.J is holding on to wont support another person’s weight” said Jack.

  “Please, help! I’m scared; I don’t want to get hurt!” N.J shouted down in a panic.

  “Think Jorge, think”, Jorge said out loud this time.

  Chapter 11

  Jack, Jorge and the others stood helplessly looking up at N.J who was hanging on terrified 30 feet above them. Then suddenly an idea came to Jorge and he instantly sprang into action.

  “Jack, where is that washing line?”

  “It’s here Jorge why?”

  “Spike how strong are you?”

  “Really strong Jorge, why?”

  “Because you’re going to throw one of us up there attached to the washing line to get her?”

  “But Jorge”, said Jack confused, “the branch is not strong enough for another person.”

  “Exactly” said Jorge making a knot in the washing line to tie to someone “Spike, do you think you can throw all the way up to N.J?”

  “Yep... but Jorge....”

  “Good, Mars come here Mars.”

  That’s when the others understood exactly where Jorge was going; he wasn’t going to throw another person up there at all. He was going to throw Mars!

  “Now listen Mars” began Jorge kneeling down to hold Mars by the cheeks “Spike is going to pick you up and he is going to throw you to N.J and you have to grab her Mars, she will then throw you over the branch and you grab her again, we need to lower you both using the branch ok?”

  Mars barked his response, he understood, he was ready.

  Without another word Spike stepped forward and scooped Mars into his massive arms and measured the distance to N.J with a squint of his eye.

  “She cannot hold on much longer!” said Jorge.

  “I’ll try Jorge” said Spike, sweat dripping off his brow “give me some space.”

  Everyone stepped back as Spike stepped forward.

  With all of his might, Spike launched Mars as high as he could, a scream leaving his mouth as he did.

  Nobody moved, everyone just stood open mouthed as Mars soared into the sky, his ears flapping in the wind as he raced towards N.J. As Mars got closer, the whole world slowed down and with his mouth wide open he showed his teeth. He looked a little scary but he did this so he could grab her jeans and hang on. His eyes watered as the wind hit him making it hard to see her legs, which kicked gently as she struggled to hold on. Mars began to slow, the speed of Spike’s throw had all but gone, and Mars knew that any moment he would reach as high as he could and he would crash back down to earth. Stretching his neck as far as he could Mars tensed, desperate for that final inch that would save his best friend. Jorge could barely watch and Jack was saying a silent prayer. Above them Mars’ fur and ears relaxed back onto his body and the wind stopped rushing, he had reached the highest he was going to reach, but he still wasn’t high enough to grab his beloved N.J. If Mars was a person he wouldn’t have, but Mars was not a person, he was a dog and all dogs have a tail.

  Wagging with all of his might he tried one last time to stretch to N.J, his enormously fluffy tail caught the wind brilliantly and Mars felt himself begin to rise again. His tail like the blade of a helicopter lifting him higher until, with all of his energy gone Mars grabbed onto her jeans.

  From below a huge cheer was heard.

  Using her arm, which had been hanging by her side N.J scooped her wonderful flying dog and fed him over the branch, grabbing hold of him once the washing line was in place. Holding Mars, for he was tied to the rope N.J let go of the branch and with Spike taking their weight from the ground he gently began to lower them.

  Half way down everyone began to relax again, it seemed N.J was going to be ok thanks to some clever thinking from Jorge, muscle from Spike and well, dogness from Mars, but just as a sigh of relief was about to leave Jack’s mouth they all heard it. The worst noise they could hear. It wasn’t The Sleep Takers scraping sound, but a panicked sound of N.J as she lost her grip. Jack looked up in horror as he saw N.J falling towards the earth, Mars who was still tied to the line just watched helplessly. Just before she could hit the ground the gang of Operation Sleep Taker sprang into action, Jack grabbed Maria who was giggling at the flying dog in the sky and would surely be squashed, Spike held Mars firmly on the line and Jorge threw himself forward, leaving the ground as he dived to catch N.J.

  It was all over in seconds, quiet had replaced the screaming, and Jorge, who was covered in dirt, his glasses broken, was the first to speak.

  “Are you ok N.J?

  “Your glasses are broken!”

  “They are only glasses, are you ok?”

  N.J and Jorge were only a matter of centimetres apart and for the first time N.J could see the light brown in Jorge’s eyes.

  “I’m fine Jorge, thank you. I can’t believe you broke your glasses for me.”

  “N.J” said Jack, running over to her and picking her up “are you ok?”

  “I’m fine, really I am, Spike, thank you! Mars come here boy.”

  Mars leapt from Spike’s arms and into hers.

  “Who’s a good boy?” said N.J. as she kissed her wonderful four legged friend.

  “What now?” said Spike, “how are we going to spy on him now?”

  Looking up to the top of the spiral tree where the den was complete but because of the broken branch completely cut off, Jack smiled.

  “Spike how strong are you still feeling?”

  “I’m fine, I always feel strong.”

  “Good” replied Jack “because you’re going to send us up!”

  “How?” replied Spike “the low branch is broken, the one we need to climb!”

  “Look up!” said Jack.

  Everyone looked up and at first didn’t see what Jack was smiling about, but one by one they all eventually did and knew what was coming next.

  “The washing line, of course Jack, brilliant!” clapped Jorge; Spike was going to use the washing line to pull everyone back to the top of the tree house. So without saying another word, Jack grabbed hold of the line and Spike began to pull.

  Slowly, Jack scaled the height of the tree until he reached the den perched at the very top. Climbing on board the platform he tied the dog’s bed to the washing line creating a seat for the others to sit on as they were pulled into the sky. Gently, Spike lowered it back down and then he continued to pull everyone up the tree until only he remained at the bottom.

  Knowing he couldn’t pull himself up safely he sat down beside the giant base of the spiral tree and waited for his friends to return.

  Chapter 12

  High up in the clouds sat the gang of Operation Sleep Taker (of course besides Spike) and they looked around at the whole of Horse Shoe Close. From where that sat they could see into every house, so the first thing they had to do was find out which one was the house of The Sleep Taker. Stood in a perfect circle all facing away from each other the group patiently watched and waited for something to happen.

  Jack watched Spike’s mum and dad lying on sun beds in their garden hand in hand enjoying the sunshine. It made him think about his own mum and dad and how much he wished he told them that he loved them this morning.

  N.J stood looking in the direction of the entrance to Horse Shoe Close, just in case he came in or left she would see him. She
watched 3 red cars enter and 1 leave. She saw a green car, a blue car and a bright yellow car, but no Sleep Taker. Maria and Jorge stood looking at Jack’s house, for Jack himself said that his own dad was working with him so maybe they would be meeting. They did not see The Sleep Taker (to be honest Jorge didn’t see much as his glasses were broken) Jack’s house appeared to be quiet.

  One by one they began to lose their focus and with all of them not sleeping for a whole day (Jack being 2 days) they all began to feel sleepy. Eventually they all sat down, besides Jack, too tired to go on.

  Their eyelids began to feel heavy and the world began to fade. Jorge rested his head a little, Maria following close behind. N.J refused to lie down but her eyes were struggling to stay open and Jack lent against the trunk of the spiral tree. Even at the bottom, Spike who rarely slept was gently sucking his thumb and day dreaming of a fluffy bed.

  Chapter 13

  “Woof, woof, woof.”

  The nervous barking of Mars broke the silence.

  “Woof.”

  It could not have come at a better time. The Sleep Taker team snapped back into action.

  “Woof, woof” continued Mars.

  Jack was the first one to respond, “what is it Mars? What is it boy?”

  “He’s nervous Jack, I can hear it in his bark” replied a stretching N.J.

  “He’s barking towards Old Lady Maud’s” said Jorge.

  At that point everyone turned towards Old Lady Maud’s massive house right in the middle of Horse Shoe Close. Old lady Maud (real name just Maud, I mean why would you call yourself old lady, surely she was once young too?) had lived in Horse Shoe Close all of her life, even before Horse Shoe Close was a Close at all. In the beginning all that was there was her massive house, and farm land. Apparently her family have owned the house since the beginning of time, maybe there were still dinosaurs roaming in her massive garden? Old Lady Maud was very mean, she would stand on her front porch waiting for someone to accidently kick a football or throw a tennis ball into her garden and then she would run outside scoop it up and take it back into her house where it would never be seen again! Nobody dared ask her for their ball back because everyone, including the grownups believed Old Lady Maud was a witch! If the gang had to go anywhere near Old Lady Maud’s, this just got a lot harder!

  Suddenly, Mars stopped barking and he cowered behind N.J’s legs, Jack instantly knew what this meant “Get down everyone” he whispered and everyone dropped to the ground of the tree house, hiding.

  “One of us has to look” said Jack “we need to see where he is.”

  No one moved; no one dared.

  “But Jack” whispered N.J “what if he sees us?”

  “N.J, we need to stop him, everyone keep down, and he doesn’t need to see us all.”

  With that said, Jack closed his eyes and stood up.

  High above the whole of Horse Shoe Close Jack, his body ridged with fear opened one eye, then the other in the direction of Old Lady Maud’s and he instantly let out a sigh of relief.

  “There is no one there!” said Jack “whatever spooked Mars was not The Sleep Taker”

  “Oh thank God” replied N.J who was being helped up by a hand from Jorge.

  “That was really brave Jack” said Jorge. “So what do we do now?”

  “Woof woof, woof woof” Mars barked again, this time with more urgency as if he was saying to everyone “look out, look out!”

  Growling, Mars moved towards the edge of the den, baring his teeth to protect his friends he snarled. At first, everyone looked at Mars but then their eyes looked to the source of his snarl. It was not in Old Lady Maud’s, but the garden next to it, and now they could all see it.

  As Jack, N.J, Maria, Jorge and Mars stood staring into the garden next to Old Lady Maud’s an old man, cap on head, walking stick in hand, stood staring back, it was The Sleep Taker!

  For what seemed like forever, they stood staring and he stood staring back, the wind had even stopped. Then he smiled and he began to walk towards them.

  What happened next was so fast it was a blur, everyone had snapped out of their trance and one by one Spike lowered everyone down from the tree back onto the ground using the washing line and dog bed as fast as he could. First Maria then Jorge came down, Jack telling them to run and hide, then N.J and Mars came down together and both of them escaped into the forest. Finally Jack came down and just before The Sleep Taker could reach them he and Spike disappeared into the forest too.

  Chapter 14

  Trying not to panic, Spike and Jack silently moved through the shadows of the trees in the forest of Horse Shoe Close. Thinking they heard a noise, they stopped and crouched, trying not to disturb the animals of the forest which could give away their location. Once still, they sat and listened.

  No more than fifty metres away Jorge and Maria sat cuddling one another; close to them was Mars and N.J. At barely a whisper, N.J spoke “Jorge, Jorge! We have to move, we have to find Jack and Spike.”

  Nodding, Jorge moved to pick up his sister, as he did his knee pressed down on a twig and it snapped. They all froze for a few seconds to hear if there was any movement, but only silence replied. Breathing again, they moved cautiously through the forest.

  Jack and Spike had heard Jorge snap the twig and they thought it was The Sleep Taker.

  “He knows where we are” said Jack, voice quivering with fear.

  “What do we do Jack?” said Spike.

  “I don’t know, what we can do?” replied Jack, struggling to see a way out of this. “Spike, maybe this is the end!”

  “If it is Jack, I’m glad you knocked on my door.”

  “Spike, I’ve brought you nothing but trouble, how can you be glad?”

  “I’m glad because you’re my first friend.”

  “Well I’m glad to be your friend too.”

  ‘SNAP.’

  Another twig broke and this time it was a lot closer to where the pair sat. All they could do was wait as The Sleep Taker approached.

  ‘SNAP.’

  Another twig had been broken, closer than ever. Both Spike and Jack sat closer together, trying to be brave for each other, this was it.

  ‘SNAP.’

  From nowhere Jack was knocked to the ground, something had pounced on him and with his eyes closed he tried to fight it off.

  “Jack, it’s Mars!” said Spike “Mars, N.J, Jorge and Maria.”

  Opening his eyes, Jack gave Mars the biggest hug imaginable and began to breathe.

  “Is everyone alright?” he asked, getting to his feet.

  “Yep, we’re all fine Jack, are you?” replied N.J.

  “I’m fine. Now let’s get out of here before he finds us.”

  Everyone nodded and quietly they all headed through the forest in the direction of Jorge’s lab.

  Chapter 15

  Back at the lab Jack and the rest of Operation Sleep Taker sat quietly as Jorge asked his mum to make everyone lunch. That meant step 7, eat some lunch (again sandwiches but maybe a banana this time) was complete. The group sat in silence until every crumb had been eaten. Maria sat baffled as to what was going on. Jorge thought about how this seemingly impossible thing was actually a reality and he calculated the estimated time it would take The Sleep Taker to control the world. Shaking his head he worked out it would only take 18 days if Horse Shoe Close fell under his grasp. Spike quietly thought about the fact that he was nearly doomed, but it was the best he had ever felt. The events within the forest had had a particularly big effect on N.J who sat holding on to Mars with all of her might, her loyal dog had saved her, and she sat thinking of how much she adored him. Mars thought about doggy treats.

  Jack sat there quietly working out the next phase of the plan. Finally he spoke “We sneak up on him!”

  This snapped
everyone out of their thoughts.

  “Pardon?” asked N.J.

  “It’s so simple, step 8 is to find his weakness right?” said Jack pulling the Operation Sleep Taker plan from his back pocket.

  “Yeah, but how do we do that?” replied N.J.

  “Like I said, we sneak up on him, and we get right under his nose.”

  “Where do you suggest we go Jack? He has everywhere covered!”

  “We go to the one place N.J, where he cannot reach us.”

  The group all sat still, their eyes glued on Jack in anticipation of what he was going to say next.

  “We go through Old Lady Maud’s!”

  “What?” said everyone at the same time.

  “Think about it, she is a witch, there is no way he can control her, so she’ll not be working for him.”

  “Good point” said Jorge.

  “And, because she is so terrifying he’ll never think we would go into her garden to spy on him.”

  “Another good point.”

  “It’s the only way guys, we cannot let him win, and every child in the world depends on our success.”

  Everyone was listening intently as Jack continued.

  “Guys this morning I dreamt of what Horse Shoe Close looked like if he wins, it was terrible, and if the whole world was like that there will be no more games, no more holidays and no more fun. He’ll take it from us but not just us, every child in the world and pretty soon the idea of fun will be completely forgotten, forever.”

  “We cannot let that happen!” said N.J.

  “We are all in this together” said Jorge.

  “And we can beat him” said Spike.

  “Yeah!” chirped Maria, still not sure of what was going on which made everyone laugh.

  Catching her breath N.J asked the question that still needed answering, “But how are we going to sneak up on him. How are we not going to be seen by Old Lady Maud?”