Rituals
by Mystical

When Kevin was younger, he never wanted to go to bed because it meant that he would miss all the cool stuff
his parents were talking about.

He remembered how he tried everything to stay up a little bit longer, but of course, they didn't allow
that. He was too young: little boys have to go to bed early and cannot stay up all night to do what they
want. His parents had their rules and this was one of them.

So, every night he went to bed like the good boy he was, and let his mother put the blanket around him. He
would never forget the proud expression on her face before she bent down to give him the last kiss of the
day. Back then he hated this good night ritual cause he was almost six and in his opinion way too old for
this. Nevertheless, he knew it made his mother happy, so he bravely put up with it as long as she wouldn't
do it in front of his friends.

His mother waited until he had made himself comfortable, than she switched off the light and
closed the door. Kevin sat up listening to her fading steps, he waited a few seconds in silence to be sure
that she wasn't coming back, then he crawled out of bed and curled up on the floor with his ear pressed
against the door.

Of course, he never heard much cause after a few minutes he got so tired that he fell asleep right
there with his head on his knees. His parents never said a word that they had known about his late night
activities, but every morning he woke up safely in his bed with his favorite teddy in his arms.

However, now, a few years later, everything had changed. Now he couldn't wait to go to sleep to forget
his life and all the pitiful voices around him. But he couldn't. He laid in bed fully awake listening to his
parents discussing his life; he prayed to God that this was just a nightmare, that he would wake up any
minute with his head leaning against the door angry that he had missed all the fun again.

END.

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