Wait For It… a blog by Andy Ross

Greatest Bedtime Story Ever

The following is the greatest bedtime story ever told, guaranteed to put even the most finicky child to sleep. I heard it from my mother, and she heard it from her grandfather. My great-grandfather learned it from a wizened old man in Morocco who claimed to be the official storyteller for the Alaouite Dynasty of sultans. He just might have been. He certainly told the best bedtime story I or anyone else has ever heard.

Here it goes:

Once upon a time, there was a young man walking through the desert. As the sun set behind him, the man saw a campfire in the distance. “Who could this be so far out in the desert?” thought the young … man, who was … getting … closer to … the … zzzzz zzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz zzz zzzzzzz zzzzzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzz zzzz

…

zzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzz *snort* Wait, what? What happened? What time is it?

8 a.m.!? Dammit, I’m late for jury duty! Why’d you guys let me sleep so long? I gotta go. I’ll tell you the rest of the story later. Actually, it’s pretty great. The guy goes to the campsite, and he sees a camel, who… zzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzzzz zzzz …