The Sleep Taker

by Darren O'Sullivan

  “I think I have an idea,” replied Jorge, disappearing deep into the back of his lab.

  Chapter 16

  Jorge had completely disappeared from sight but they could all hear him. Buried somewhere in the chaos that was Jorge’s lab he rustled and wrestled through all of his past inventions looking for one thing in particular which would help the group with the next challenge. After a few minutes and lots strange noises including bongs, zips, whizzes, screeches and what sounded like a walrus singing, Jorge arrived back out of breath but smiling from ear to ear, N.J had not seen Jorge smile before and she thought it was nice.

  “I have something I want to show you,” said Jorge, still smiling proudly.

  “Jack, could you stand up for a second” Jack did as he was asked. “Alright, now close your eyes.”

  As Jack closed his eyes, Jorge opened a little round container which held some sort of cream, he put a small amount onto his fingers and rubbed it into Jack’s face.

  “Now open your eyes.”

  As Jack opened his eyes he saw everyone staring back at him, he noticed for the first time how tired everyone looked and he felt bad for his friends. At first they just sat looking at him, wondering what was going to happen, he was wondering the same.

  “It takes a few seconds” said Jorge.

  Then, as Jack continued to look at his friends, their expression changed from tired and beaten to confused and then they all gasped with astonishment.

  “What?” asked Jack, “what’s happened?”

  “Jack, can you just walk over to that blue wall please” asked Jorge, clearly feeling pleased with himself. Jack did as he was asked and when he stepped in front of the blue wall again everyone gasped.

  “What’s going on?” he asked again.

  “Jorge, how is that possible?”

  “I won’t go into the science Spike but it just is, and it’s completely harmless, unfortunately it only lasts for a short time so we will have to work fast.”

  “Does it work everywhere?” asked N.J.

  “Yes, almost all conditions are copied.”

  “Jorge, you’re amazing.” She said.

  “Guys, what’s going on??”

  “Jack, look in this mirror.”

  As Jorge held up the small hand held mirror for Jack to look in he gasped as everyone else had. You see instead of looking at a reflection of him he only saw his eyes and teeth, everything else about his face was blue. Taking the mirror from Jorge he spun so behind him was a white wall and window, instantly his face turned white.

  “Jack, whatever is behind you your face will copy, making you almost invisible to anything that looks at you.”

  “Wow, Jorge this is amazing!”

  “Thank you, and if we all use this we can sneak into Old Lady Maud’s undetected!”

  “Brilliant!”

  “However, I must warn you all, as I have said, this cream does not last a very long time, and we will have to move fast!”

  “How long does it last?” asked Spike.

  “Well, look at Jack now.”

  The group looked at Jack again and he was already fading back to his normal rosy cheeked self.

  “As you can see it only lasts a matter of minutes.”

  “Well then” Jack said “if we only have minutes we have to do it in minutes! We need clothes, dark green and brown to blend in with the trees at Old Lady Maud’s, Jorge do you have anything?”

  “Jack, of course I do!”

  Chapter 17

  10 minutes later the gang were ready. Step 8 was going ahead; they were going to try and find his weakness. They were all dressed in Jorge’s best camouflage gear they all looked like the belonged in the army. Dark jumpers and trousers, boots that were anti slip and were so quiet they could barely hear their own footsteps, hats to hide their array of hair colour and most important of all, the cream that made them invisible, but only for a few minutes.

  It was just gone 3.00 in the afternoon and the sun had past its hottest part of the day, but Spike began to struggle as the dark clothes were making him feel very hot. The group left Jorge’s lab by his own private door and ran from front garden to front garden, hiding in shrubs or trees along the way to ensure no one saw them. When they all reached the garden next to Old Lady Maud’s they stopped, and crawling, they all slipped under the huge canopy of the conifers.

  Out of breath Jorge spoke “right, we’ll put the cream on here and then we’ll go for it, Jack, what’s the plan?”

  “Directly in front of us is the fence that splits these two gardens, I’ll go first and climb over into Old Lady Maud’s, when I give the signal everyone follow.”

  “What’s the signal Jack?” asked N.J.

  “I’ll make a sound like an owl.”

  “Owl noise, check.”

  “Then, we’ll go along the side wall to her house, ducking under the kitchen window until we reach the fence that leads into his garden, from there we’ll get Mars to dig a hole and we’ll all lie down and look into The Sleep Taker’s house.”

  “Then what?” said Spike, who was bright red and panting because of the heat.

  “Then we pray we find something we can use against him” said Jack. “Is everyone ready?” he asked.

  Everyone nodded in unison as they put the cream all over their faces.

  “Ok. 3, 2, 1.”

  Jack slipped under the conifers and disappeared over the fence into Old Lady Maud’s. The group looked in amazement at his courage. As soon as his feet hit the ground on the other side he realised that Old Lady Maud’s garden wasn’t a garden at all, it was more like a jungle! He could hear what he thought were monkeys swinging in the trees, he could hear birds singing their songs and crickets chirping to one another, and for a second he thought he saw a tiger roam past him in the distance. It was a hot day, but inside the Jungle the heat was 10 times worse. The air was so thick Jack could barely breathe through it. Still he checked to make sure she wasn’t near and then he made the owl noise.

  Crouching to make himself as small as possible Jack was joined by N.J and Mars; Maria (lifted over by her brother) Jorge, then finally Spike, who more fell over the fence than climbed.

  “Jack, Jack” called N.J at a whisper, “Jack, where are you?”

  “I’m right hear” replied Jack; he was only 10 feet from her.

  “Wow, I can barely see you.”

  “I can barely see you too, are we all here?”

  One by one they all whispered yes.

  “Good, follow me guys.”

  Jack turned around and slowly, keeping as low as possible they moved down the side of Old Lady Maud’s house ducking under the kitchen window until they were all clear and then they ran to the other side of the garden. Mars then dug furiously against the fence so a long trench was created for everyone to climb in and be hidden.

  Laying on their bellies the entire gang (including Mars) looked from Old Lady Maud’s into The Sleep Taker’s garden, 5 children and a dog caught in the space between the most powerful and evil people in the entire world.

  They had only been in position for a matter of seconds when The Sleep Taker stepped out of his house into his garden. Instantly he looked in the direction of where they were laying and they all held their breath, it was almost like he could sense them there, but because he couldn’t see anything he turned and walked away.

  The Sleep Taker then walked over to a bush of some kind and picking up some secateurs (you know those weird garden scissors) he trimmed it. Only then did Jack notice that The Sleep Taker had a lovely tidy, clean garden. Somewhere in the back of Jack’s mind a plan began to form about how they could use this knowledge, but before he had time to finish the plan in his head, the worst thing possible happened.

  “Woof, woof, woof.”

 
The gang had been so worried about The Sleep Taker they completely forgot that he had a dog and his dog had spotted them all.

  “Run!!” said Jack and he didn’t need to say it twice. Everyone got up and as fast as they could they all ran back through Old Lady Maud’s garden. Luckily, the dog didn’t pursue past the fence, but its barking had made Old Lady Maud stop mixing evil potions in her cauldron, where she melted the footballs and tennis balls that were accidently knocked into her garden and come outside to investigate.

  Running as fast as they could, the gang jumped over the fence and back to the safe zone of the conifers. It was just in time too, the cream was beginning to wear off their faces. Panting, they were all thankful they had not been caught.

  “That was a close call,” said Jack.

  “Too close” replied N.J.

  “Where’s Spike?” asked Maria realising he was not there.

  “I don’t know” said Jack, thinking the worst.

  Back in Old Lady Maud’s garden Spike was desperately trying to hide from the old woman. The magical cream was beginning to wear off and the heat had crippled him. The sounds of the monkeys and birds and crickets suddenly stopped, the silence filling Spike with even more dread. He felt abandoned, his friends had run off and left him and then the game was up, Old Lady Maud grabbed Spike and with a gasp of shock he was dragged back to her house. Spike knew he would never see the light of day again.

  Back under the conifers, the gang sat speechlessly waiting for Spike to jump over the fence, but nothing happened. Jack felt he had failed his new friend and wished he could take his place inside Old Lady Maud’s.

  Minutes had passed and still there was no sign of him, one by one they stopped looking to the entrance of the conifer hideout and looked at the floor instead.

  A door opened from the direction of Old Lady Maud’s and the group looked up again, scrambling towards the narrow entrance to see the old lady dragging Spike by the ear out of her house, down the road and to his own front door. He walked with a sad, hurt expression on his face. As Old Lady Maud dragged Spike across the road Jack saw The Sleep Taker looking out of his front window. He had a strange look on his face, one Jack had seen somewhere before but he couldn’t work out where from.

  Once at his front door Spike’s mum came out and talked with the old lady, Jack desperately tried to hear what was said, but could not. Old Lady Maud then turned around and marched back to her house and Spike was dragged inside by his very angry mum, the front door slamming as he entered his home.

  Operation Sleep Taker had lost a member, Spike was gone.

  Day Three

  Chapter 18

  It was the middle of the night and the gang were all in Jorge’s lab. In a few hours the sun would come up and it was the last chance for Operation Sleep Taker, if it failed children all over the world would not see a summer holiday again. Step 9 and step 10 had both been completed; they had had food and had a sleep over at Jorge’s. The night had been a tough one for Jack, N.J, Mars, Jorge and Maria as yet again they did not sleep. This was the 3rd night without sleep for Jack and he was really struggling. Their focus was supposed to be on finding The Sleep Taker’s weakness but everyone thought about Spike. It was true they only had him on board because he was really strong but now he was one of them, and they all were sad about what had happened. They all missed their friend.

  Into the night they had shared ideas and discussed how hard it was to find a chink in the evil Sleep Taker’s armour, until they were so tired they slumped against walls and each other, not asleep but not awake.

  It’s funny how the mind wanders when it is exhausted. Jorge thought about the solar system and how it spins (even tired he was still a genius). Maria thought about clouds and how she wished she was in one. N.J thought about rice pudding for no real reason. Mars though about doggy treats again and Jack thought about tig and tag, hide and seek, bulldog; the same games that he thought about 2 days ago before all of this had happened; it felt a lot longer than 2 days ago though. The idea of no more games saddened him. He thought back to what he was doing this time last summer with N.J. He remembered a sleep over they had had in his garden where they shared ghost stories and talked about hidden treasure and pirate ships, he wished for those days again.

  As the sun was lighting the sky and pre-dawn had changed to morning, the birds began to sing. Jack, the boy who had not slept for 3 days finally had an idea, an idea that might just work. You see thinking about the sleep over in his garden made Jack remember something they had all forgotten, The Sleep Taker’s garden was amazingly clean and tidy. Maybe they could use it to their advantage?

  “Guys” said Jack, regaining his excitement and fighting off his need for sleep.

  Everyone looked up.

  “I think I have it” he proclaimed. “We do the one thing we should never do.”

  “What’s that Jack?” asked N.J.

  “We pair him up with Old Lady Maud.”

  Chapter 19

  For the first time since they all found out about The Sleep Taker the group stopped. They were not planning, they were not building, they were all just sat staring at Jack with their mouths wide open, speechless. Jack had just suggested something so incredible not one of the group had anything to say. What Jack had suggested was that they paired the most evil, dangerous man in the world with the most evil dangerous woman, a recipe for disaster!

  “Jack, why don’t you sit down” said Jorge patiently.

  “Yeah Jack, you have not slept for 3 days now” N.J added.

  They thought Jack had lost his mind!

  “I know it sounds mad” the group nodded in unison, including Mars! “But listen, I think my idea might work”

  “Well, any idea is better than none” conceded Jorge. “Go for it Jack, what’s your big plan?”

  Over the next 15 minutes Jack explained his plan to his friends, he detailed all of the points and why he thought it would work. One by one they all could see that the crazy idea of pairing the two most powerful and dangerous people on the planet together could actually save the world. The enthusiasm Jack felt for this idea rubbed off on his friends and everyone was up on their feet, excited about the possibility of saving summer for children everywhere. After Jack had finished outlining the plan he put his hand out horizontally, palm down. “If we are going to do this guys” he said “we need all of us, that means getting Spike out, who’s with me?”

  One by one they all put their hands in on top of Jack’s. He looked everyone in the eye and could see the excitement.

  “Right, let’s go break out our friend.”

  “How?” asked N.J.

  Maria spoke with confidence in her voice “leave that to me.”

  “Maria....” said Jorge.

  “Leave it to me” she said again this time looking Jack in the eye.

  “Can you do this Maria?” Jack asked. Maria simply nodded, holding eye contact, Jack nodded back and without another word the group, inspired by their plan walked out onto the street of Horse Shoe Close in the direction of Spike’s house.

  It was a very warm day, the warmest so far and the sun hurt their sleepless eyes. The walk took forever, each of the group helping the other to keep moving which was difficult giving the fact that they had been so long without sleep. If they did not succeed today, they would definitely be too tired to continue tomorrow.

  Jack had to stop, the heat was too much for him and because he had an extra day without sleep he needed shade. The group all sat by a tree, only 50 feet from Spike’s.

  “I can’t go on, I need to rest, Maria are you sure you can do this?”

  “Yes Jack,” she replied. “And I can do it all by myself, why don’t all of you stay here, I have only had 1 night without sleep, so I am feeling OK.”

  “Maria, I really don’t think...” began Jorge before he wa
s cut off.

  “I can do this Jorge, I may be young but I know what I am doing OK?”

  “Jack, this is insane” protested Jorge.

  “You can really get Spike back?” Jack asked again.

  “Yes! Now sit tight,” and with that Maria turned on her heels and marched to Spike’s house alone.

  As she walked off they all sat looking at her march up Spike’s drive, wondering how a little 5 and 3/4 year old was going to rescue Spike all on her own, but they were all too tired to do anything else but watch.

  The remaining walk from the tree to Spike’s door only took Maria a matter of seconds, with only 1 sleepless night she was in much better shape than the others. She stopped and looked back at them. She knew they had nothing to worry about though, she was about to unleash her secret weapon!

  Maria finally looked at her older brother Jorge; he looked more worried than the others. Maria always looked up to Jorge, he was the smart one, the genius and she was just his little sister who was pretty, but not as smart. Maria was hoping that when she rescued Spike he would think of her differently.

  Taking a deep breath she turned and banged on Spike’s front door.

  It opened and Maria had to look up to see Spike’s mum’s face, she was tall, she was very, very tall and had a look on her which said that she was not a happy lady.

  Maria gulped.

  “Yes?” said Spike’s mum.

  “Hello, my name is Maria I live at....”

  “I know where you live, what do you want?”

  “I want to tell you something, something that I cannot hide anymore.”

  “I’m listening” said Spike’s mum.

  Back at the tree the rest of the group sat and watch as Spike’s mum looked down at Maria, stern at first then slowly she began to relax her arms eventually showing a smile as Maria became more animated with her story. Then Maria unleashed her secret weapon, her loud infectious giggle, which made Spike’s mum laugh out loud.