Jamie stared at the ceiling, wide-eyed.
The clock ticked. The floor creaked. And somewhere outside, an owl hooted like it was laughing at her misery.
“Great,” she muttered. “Even the wildlife’s mocking me.”
Max was snoring in the next bed, perfectly at peace after a day of disaster.
Jamie pulled her blanket tighter. “How does he sleep after everything that happened today? He’s basically a walking catastrophe.”
After ten minutes of tossing and turning, she sighed, kicked off the blanket, and whispered, “Snack mission initiated.”
She crept down the dark staircase, each step groaning dramatically, as if warning the entire house she was up to something. The kitchen loomed ahead, moonlight glinting off the stainless-steel fridge like it was guarding treasure.
Jamie opened the cabinet, grabbed a cookie, and smiled. Victory.
Then she heard footsteps. Slow. Approaching.
Her heart jumped. “Ghosts,” she whispered. “I knew this house was haunted.”
Thinking fast, she grabbed the nearest weapon, a glass of water, and waited in the shadows.
The footsteps came closer.
“Who’s there?” she hissed.
No answer.
So she did what any brave Johnson would do. She threw.
Splash!
“Aaahhh!” a familiar voice screamed.
Jamie flipped on the light.
Max stood there, dripping wet, holding a bag of chips.
“What was that for?!” he shouted.
“Oh my gosh, I thought you were—” Jamie burst out laughing. “—a ghost!”
“Well, this ghost’s cold now!” Max grumbled, shaking his wet hair like a dog. “You ruined my midnight snack!”
“Good,” Jamie said sweetly. “Now go back to bed.”
Back upstairs, Jamie fell asleep almost instantly.
But Max? Not so much. After a full-body waterboarding experience, he couldn’t sleep if he tried.
He tossed, turned and finally, groaned, “Forget it. I’m watching TV.”
He tiptoed downstairs, but when he reached the living room, he froze.
On the couch sat Lilly, tiny, cozy, eyes glued to the glowing screen. Cartoon music filled the room.
“Lilly,” Max said in disbelief. “It’s midnight. Why are you awake?”
She didn’t even look at him. “Cartoons.”
“Move over. I’m watching a horror movie.”
“No.”
“Lilly, hand me the remote.”
“No.”
“LILLY!”
Max lunged. Lilly yanked the remote away. They wrestled. A button was hit.
And suddenly—
BLAAAAST!
The volume exploded. Cartoon characters started screaming in surround sound at full blast.
Both of them froze.
“Oh no,” Max whispered.
“Oh yes,” said Lilly, wide-eyed.
Upstairs, chaos detonated like an alarm system.
Dad, startled out of a dream about peaceful beaches, rolled over, shouted, “EARTHQUAKE!” and promptly fell off the bed.
In the guest room, Uncle Jake sat up and began singing in his sleep, loudly. “🎵 Don’t stop believin’! 🎵”
Uncle Sam groaned, grabbed the nearest shoe, and hurled it across the room. Thwack!
“Sleep concert’s cancelled,” he mumbled.
Next door, Noah and Ethan’s room was a different show entirely.
Ethan, still asleep, suddenly stood up and began to… dance. Arms flailing. Feet sliding.
Noah blinked. “Is this… sleep-dancing?”
Then, naturally, he grabbed his phone. “For science,” he whispered, hitting record.
Meanwhile, back downstairs, Grandma had entered the scene—sleepwalking, in roller skates.
She glided past Max and Lilly, arms out like a majestic bird.
“Night patrol!” she murmured dreamily as she rolled into the hallway, narrowly missing the coffee table.
Lilly whispered, “Grandma’s roller-skating in her sleep again.”
Max blinked. “Does she do that often?”
“Only on Tuesdays.”
“It’s Monday!”
Lilly shrugged. “She’s early.”
🌀 What Just Happened?
- Jamie went on a midnight snack mission and accidentally soaked Max with water.
- Max returned downstairs for TV and found Lilly guarding the cartoons.
- Their remote battle blasted the TV at maximum volume.
- The whole house woke up into chaos, including Dad falling out of bed.
- Grandma sleep-skated through the hallway like it was night patrol.
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