Good Night, Parents

Dad was the first to yawn, and it was not just any yawn. It looked like he was about to swallow his entire cup of tea. With his mouth open like that, he could have scared away a crocodile. His yawn was contagious; now Mum, carrying a basket of laundry, let out a yawn herself. What’s more, she tripped.

“Ouch!” she cried, “I’m so tired I can’t even see properly.”

Their two little sons, Jonah and Willy, were sitting on the couch, eagerly discussing what from a distance looked like a favourite game, as boys tend to do. But now they were concerned about something much more important. The two of them had not missed seeing how tired their parents were.

“Look,” Jonah got worried. “Poor Dad! He looks like a teabag that’s already been steeped three times.” And Mum hardly had any more energy either. “They’re both ready for bed,” he declared.

So, the brothers decided to let their parents sleep. They came up with a plan to get their mother and father to bed as soon as possible. They neither wanted Dad to stay up late on the computer nor Mum to spend the evening ironing. But how could they deal with two big, heavy adults?

Willy knew exactly what worked on Dad. He would sometimes fall asleep right on the couch. Unlike children, he did not need to hear a fairy tale; it was enough if someone was talking to him for a long time. Willy therefore decided to take advantage of Dad’s weakness, lured him to the couch, dimmed the lights, and turned on the radio. As soon as Dad heard monotonous words like “budget,” “law”, and “taxes”, Willy knew everything was going according to plan.

Meanwhile, Jonah moved on to…