Good Night, Sleep Tight.

It was 3 am on Thursday morning when I heard Ashley patter into our room.  When she got around to my side of the bed, I asked what she needed.

"There are crabs in my bed!" she explained quietly.

I smiled to myself and told her she was having a dream.  Then I invited her in bed to snuggle with me, though our room was quite hot and stuffy and another warm body in my bed was not exactly what I needed.

By morning, she laid parallel to the pillows with her feet jabbing into my sides.  Joel was already up, leaving the two of us to comfortably spread across the king sized bed.

Joel came into our bathroom to shave and Ashley finally woke up.

"Mom," she stated soberly, "Last night there was a crab in my bed."

"Oh?" I replied, "What did it do?"

"It pinched me on the arm, like this."  Ashley mimicked a claw grabbing at her forearm.

"Ashley, it was only a dream.  There wasn't really a crab in your bed.  Don't worry."

"No, there is!" Ashley was insistent and ran to her room.  When she got to her bed she looked confused.  She pulled off her blanket with a flourish and threw it on the floor, exposing a bare sheet.

"Hey!"  Ashley snatched her pillow and threw it onto the floor as well.  "It was here a minute ago!" She insisted, not knowing where else to look but peering more closely at the bed just in case.  By this time, Joel and I were laughing as we watched her standing in consternation by her empty bed.

I don't know if Ashley was ever convinced that the crab was part of a dream she had, but she hasn't mentioned it since.  Crabs are less scary than monsters, I suppose!