54 - Don't Go To Sleep by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead) Page B

the hole in reality was—Lacie had said so.
    But ever since then—ever since I slept in the guest room—I hadn’t slept
in my own room. Not once.
    Something always stopped me. Either someone else was sleeping there, or it
was being used for something else.
    My own room was where I slept when my life was normal. My tiny old room. I
never thought I’d miss it.
    I decided I had to sleep in my old room again. Maybe that way, I could
turn everything back to normal. The way it used to be.
    I knew it sounded stupid. But it was worth a try.
    And, anyway, I didn’t have any other ideas.
    I scampered up the rain gutter to the second floor. I peeked through my old
bedroom window.
    There it was! My old room. With my bed in it and everything!
    But the window was closed. I tried to push it with my tiny squirrel paws. No
luck.
    I checked the other windows in the house. They were all shut.
    There had to be another way to get in. Maybe I could sneak through the door
somehow.
    Was anyone home? I peered through the living room window.
    Mom! And Pam and Greg!
    They were back!
    I got so excited, I hopped up and down. I chirruped and chittered.
    Then Biggie waddled into the room.
    Oh, yeah. I’d forgotten about Biggie. I wasn’t too glad to see him right
then.
    Biggie loved to chase squirrels.
    He saw me right away and started barking.
    Pam looked up. She smiled and pointed at me.
    Yes! I thought. Come and get me, Pam. Open the window and let me in!
    She gently opened the window. “Here, little squirrel,” she cooed. “You’re so
cute!”
    I hesitated. I wanted to go inside. But Biggie was barking like crazy.
    “Put Biggie in the basement!” Pam told Greg. “He’s scaring the squirrel.”
    She was being nicer to me as a squirrel than she ever was to her little
brother. But I let that slide for now.
    Greg led Biggie to the basement and shut the door.
    “Come on, squirrel,” Pam chirped. “It’s safe now.”
    I hopped into the house.
    “Look!” Pam cried. “He wants to come in! It’s almost like he’s tame!”
    “Don’t let him in here!” Mom warned. “Those animals have rabies! Or bugs, at
the very least.”
    I tried not to listen. It’s hard to hear your own mother insult you that way.
    I focused on getting upstairs. If I could only get up to my room and fall
asleep, just for a few minutes….
    “He’s getting away!” Greg shouted. “Catch him!”
    Pam pounced at me. I skittered away.
    “If that squirrel gets lost in this house, Pamela,” Mom warned, “you’re going
to be in big, big trouble.”
    “I’ll catch him,” Pam promised.
    Not if I can help it, I silently vowed.
    Pam cut me off at the stairs. I darted into the kitchen.
    Pam followed. She closed the kitchen door behind her.
    I was trapped.
    “Here, little squirrel,” she called. “Here, boy.”
    I twitched my tail. I searched the room for a way out.
    Pam inched her way toward me. She was trying not to scare me away.
    I scurried under the table. She dove for me. Missed.
    But when I scampered away, she cornered me.
    And snatched me up.
    I never knew she was so speedy.
    She grabbed me by the neck and held my feet together. “I got him!” she
shouted.
    Greg threw open the kitchen door. Mom stood behind him.
    “Take him outside—quick!” Mom ordered.
    “Can’t I keep him, Mom?” Pam begged. “He’d be such a cute pet!”
    I shuddered. Me, as Pam’s pet! What a nightmare!
    But it might be my best chance to get back to my room.
    “No!” Mom insisted. “You absolutely cannot keep him. Put him outside—now.”
    Pam’s mouth drooped. “Okay, Mom,” she said sadly. “Whatever you say.”
    She carried me out of the kitchen. “Mom is so mean,” she said loudly so Mom
could hear her. “All I wanted to do was pet you and cuddle you for a while.
What’s wrong with that?”
    A lot, I thought. Pam was the last person I wanted petting and cuddling me.
Except for Greg.
    She opened the front door. “Bye, you cute little squirrel,”