Thump and Beach

I heard a thump.

At least I thought it was a thump.

Maybe I didn't hear a thing--

Wait.

That was definately a thump.

I forced myself to crack open an eye. It was the dead of night and I had to be brave. If an intruder was about to attack us all, I ought to do something about it. I took a Tae Bo class, I'd do some of those moves and--oh wait, I didn't actually do Tae Bo, did I? I watched it being done on TV, tried to copy the moves and then got bored and wandered into the kitchen to get some chocolate.

Still.

I heard shuffling noises next and immediately thought aliens. How do you fend off aliens? I suppose I could wack them over the head with the fan.

I opened one eye and freaked out. Where was I? This wasn't my room! Aliens have taken me somewhere and..

...wait...wait...

Oh. Right. I was at the beach. In a condo. It was okay.

So what was that noise? Some bizarre ocean creature with six heads?

I turned to my side and..

SWEET JESUS!

A pair of eyes stared back at me.

"Mommy?"

AND IT WAS CALLING ME MOMMY!

"Mommy?"

Oh. It was Natalie. Standing right next to me. She must have wandered over from her bed. That explained the thump. And shuffling.

"Yes?" I sat up. I was still on guard, just in case.

"I'm scared. This room scares me," Natalie said primly.

Well, that made two of us.

Oh, nothing is wrong with the room. It's just frightening in the dark.

"Everything is okay," I promised. "We're at the beach. Let's be quiet and see if we can hear the waves crash."

We were silent.

And heard nothing except for the fan in my room.

Oh well.

"We can imagine the waves crashing," I said. "We're at a beautiful beach in this beautiful by day room..."

"I'm done now," Natalie said and went back to her bed.

I guess I bored her.

But yes. We are at the beach until Tuesday. And then I return home to Oklahoma on Thursday.

Where hopefully things are less scary.