"We're here!" cried Megan McKnight the car pulled to a stop in front of the Smiths' house. Mr. and Mrs. McKnight were going on a trip for a couple of days by themselves and were leaving their two daughters, Melissa, age twelve, and Megan, age four, with their good friends the Smiths at their house. The girls would spend the night and the next afternoon their parents would come and get them. The Smiths had one little girl of their own. Andrea was six, and a loved to play with the McKnight girls. Andrea always thought of it as a great treat to have the McKnight girls over, especially to spend the night.

Andrea hurried out the door of her house. "I'm so glad you're here!" she exclaimed, hugging the girls in turn.

"Hi, Andrea!" the girls said, as they hugged Andrea back. Dad McKight opened the trunk of the car and got the overnight bag out, and then they all walked into the Smiths' house together.

Well, we'd better get going," Mom said in a few minutes. She and Dad hugged the girls goodbye.

"Don't go, Mommy!" Little Megan looked as if she were about to cry.

"It's okay, Megan," Mom assured the little girl. "You'll have a good time with Andrea, and before you know it we'll be back to get you!" After much persuasion Megan "decided" to stay, although she would have had to whether she liked it or not.

After Mom and Dad left, the three girls played together beautifully until it was time to go to bed. Then Melissa helped Megan get into her sleepers and brush her teeth. Megan was very happy the whole time, saying how excited she was to sleep on a sleeping bag on the living room floor, and to get to sleep in Andrea's house. But when it was time for bed, however, all that changed. She now wanted Mommy to "come and kiss me goodnight and I wanted to sleep in my own room in my own bed."

"But, sweetie," Mrs. Smith said, "you get to sleep with Andrea tonight. You'll have fun," she assured. Megan was not quite sure of it, but she decided to just keep quiet and after everyone else was asleep she would quickly sneak out of the house and go to her Mommy and Daddy, wherever they were.

After everyone was asleep and all of the lights were off in the house, Megan slipped out of her sleeping bag and tiptoed to the front door. Quietly she unlocked the door and went out into the night. No one saw her or heard her.

Soon Megan had walked to the end of the driveway and to the edge of the street. She paused here, unsure of which way to go. Then she remembered which way they always went home from the Smiths' house and started walking. She walked and walked.

Mrs. Smith, being a light sleeper, was awakened when Megan opened the front door. She sat up in bed, wondering if it was her imagination, when she heard the door close. She woke up Mr. Smith.

"What's the matter?" her husband asked sleepily.

"I heard the front door open. At first I thought it was my imagination, but then I heard the door close. Richard, there may be a robber in our house, and the girls are sleeping on the living room floor!"

In an instant Mr. Smith was wide awake. He quickly grabbed his shotgun and then he left the bedroom. Mrs. Smith put her robe on and followed him. "Be careful!" she whispered very softly. "If it's one of the girls sleepwalking I don't want you to hurt them."

"Don't worry," Mr. Smith reassured. The two walked to the living room. Mr. Smith flipped the lights on. There was no one there but Melissa and Andrea, and they woke up as the light was turned on.

"What's going on?" Melissa asked. She squeezed her eyes closed as they were not yet adjusted to the light. Slowly she opened them again.

"I heard the front door open and then close," Mrs. Smith said. She did not say that she thought there may have been  a robber in the house. "We came out to see what was going on."

Then Mrs. Smith noticed that Megan's sleeping bag was empty. She looked at the bathroom door to see if maybe that was where Megan was, but the bathroom door was open and the light was off. That was definitely not where Megan was. They looked in Andrea's bedroom. Megan was not there, either.

"Does anyone know where Megan is?" asked Mrs. Smith. But no one could find her even after looking in all of the rooms in the house.

"Oh, why didn't I think of it before?" exclaimed Andrea.

"What is it?" everyone asked.

"Mom, you said you heard the front door open and then close. Megan is not in the house that we can see. I bet she went outside." Then everyone went outside to see if Megan was there. But Megan had already gone.

"Oh, what are we going to do?" asked Mrs. Smith. She was almost frantic. "We've lost Megan!"

Megan had walked down the street until she came to a nice grassy yard. She felt so tired, and now she wished that she had stayed in her sleeping bag at Andrea's house. She didn't know the way back in the dark, though, so she laid down in the grassy yard and cried. She cried good and loud, too.

The lady in that house had not yet gone to bed. She was reading a very exciting book and had lost track of time. Suddenly she heard the sound of crying. "I think it's coming from outside," she said. She went out the front door, and, sure enough, there was a little girl crying on the front lawn.

"What's the matter?" she asked Megan.

"I ran away and now I can't find my way back to Andrea's house and I am tired and I want Mommy and..." She kept crying.

"Who's Andrea?"

"Andrea Smith. She's my friend and I was spending the night and then I ran away."

The lady found out from Megan who Andrea's parents where. After looking them up in the phone book she called them on the phone.

The Smiths heard the phone ringing and Mr. Smith answered it. Maybe someone had found Megan! "Hello?... Really?... Oh, thank you!... So that's what happened?... I'm  so sorry. Okay, I'll be right there." He hung up the phone and told Mrs. Smith, Andrea, and Melissa what the lady had said on the phone.

Mr. Smith then walked over to the lady's house to get Megan. After she was brought back to the Smith's house she told them what had happened. "I want Mommy," she cried at the end.

"Oh, you can see her tomorrow!" Melissa said cheerfully. Do you want to sleep here with me tonight?"

Megan consented. Before everyone went back to bed Megan promised that she would never run away at night again. "It's much better to stay in bed," she finished. Everyone laughed with relief that Megan was okay, and then they all went back to bed. They would have a lot to tell Mr. and Mrs. McKnight the next day!

• Post A Comment!

Comments