Sing Me Anything
sing like you think no one's listening
It was midnight, and Katie Knight’s tiny preteen body tossed and turned beneath her purple sheets, desperate to find the magic position that would comfort her into sleep. Lying on her back, the young girl gazed upwards with tired brown eyes, counting the various colored glow-in-the-dark stars and planets that adorned the ceiling above her. Her gaze drifted towards the digital clock on her nightstand, and her thick chocolate bangs fluttered in a flurry as a frustrated sigh escaped her lips. In only six hours, she’d have to get up and get dressed for school. There had to be a cure for her insomnia, and though she knew exactly what that cure was, she was saving it as a last resort.
Katie wasn’t exactly looking forward to crawling into her brother’s bedroom and waking him, but nothing else was working. After over an hour of counting sheep and a glass of warm milk, Katie still felt as restless as ever.
It only took an additional five minutes of internal dialogue before the girl was forcing herself free of her cocoon of blankets and tiptoeing into the adjacent room. Her tiny balled-up fist knocked softly three times before slowly pulling the door open, allowing the light from the hallway to seep into the dark bedroom.
“Kendall?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she rubbed her eyes.
Katie watched as the lump beneath the covers stretched and twisted. It wasn’t long before her older brother responded with a groan.
“What is it, Katie?” Kendall asked as he rolled over to face her, his green eyes squinted against the glow from the doorway.
“I can’t sleep. Will you sing to me?” she pleaded, mustering up her most pathetic voice and her puppy dog stare, though she doubted he could decipher it in the shadows.
His answer was a tired sigh, followed by a slow nod and the faintest of smiles twitching across his lips. The boy ran a hand absentmindedly through his disheveled golden locks as he yanked himself out of bed, tossing his navy blue comforter aside before following her into her bedroom.
Katie settled back into her bed, Kendall carefully tucking the covers up around her small frame.
“So…any requests?” he asked as he sat on the edge of her bed. The door was cracked slightly, and the glow from the hallway illuminated his broad, hockey-toned shoulders and biceps.
“Nope, I’m good with anything that’ll help me fall asleep.” Katie grinned in the dark.
As Kendall’s low, raspy voice began to utter the first few words of a slow country tune, Katie let her eyelids cascade over brown eyes.
Though she possessed maturity unconceivable to most ten-year-old girls, there was still one thing that she kept nestled down deep inside of her because it was something she didn’t quite understand. When it came to matters of the heart, Katie found that only experience could be a worthy teacher, and Katie had no experience with romantic love. It was something she tried so hard not to acknowledge because she couldn’t wrap her young mind around the concept. She feared the unknown, and that resulted in an unwillingness to embrace the warm and fuzzies that every other one of her peers seemed to live off of.
Katie Knight swore to herself that teen idol Dak Zevon was the only man worthy of her time and affections, and various posters of his chiseled features, green eyes, and perfectly tousled chestnut hair decorated the walls of her bedroom.
But not even daydreams of Dak Zevon could make her heart flutter the way it did when Kendall sang to her.
As Kendall’s voice faded further and further away, Katie could feel herself beginning to drift off into dreamland. In her dreams, she was wrapped up in her brother’s warm embrace as his voice sang soft and low lullabies in her hair.
Katie wasn’t exactly looking forward to crawling into her brother’s bedroom and waking him, but nothing else was working. After over an hour of counting sheep and a glass of warm milk, Katie still felt as restless as ever.
It only took an additional five minutes of internal dialogue before the girl was forcing herself free of her cocoon of blankets and tiptoeing into the adjacent room. Her tiny balled-up fist knocked softly three times before slowly pulling the door open, allowing the light from the hallway to seep into the dark bedroom.
“Kendall?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she rubbed her eyes.
Katie watched as the lump beneath the covers stretched and twisted. It wasn’t long before her older brother responded with a groan.
“What is it, Katie?” Kendall asked as he rolled over to face her, his green eyes squinted against the glow from the doorway.
“I can’t sleep. Will you sing to me?” she pleaded, mustering up her most pathetic voice and her puppy dog stare, though she doubted he could decipher it in the shadows.
His answer was a tired sigh, followed by a slow nod and the faintest of smiles twitching across his lips. The boy ran a hand absentmindedly through his disheveled golden locks as he yanked himself out of bed, tossing his navy blue comforter aside before following her into her bedroom.
Katie settled back into her bed, Kendall carefully tucking the covers up around her small frame.
“So…any requests?” he asked as he sat on the edge of her bed. The door was cracked slightly, and the glow from the hallway illuminated his broad, hockey-toned shoulders and biceps.
“Nope, I’m good with anything that’ll help me fall asleep.” Katie grinned in the dark.
As Kendall’s low, raspy voice began to utter the first few words of a slow country tune, Katie let her eyelids cascade over brown eyes.
Though she possessed maturity unconceivable to most ten-year-old girls, there was still one thing that she kept nestled down deep inside of her because it was something she didn’t quite understand. When it came to matters of the heart, Katie found that only experience could be a worthy teacher, and Katie had no experience with romantic love. It was something she tried so hard not to acknowledge because she couldn’t wrap her young mind around the concept. She feared the unknown, and that resulted in an unwillingness to embrace the warm and fuzzies that every other one of her peers seemed to live off of.
Katie Knight swore to herself that teen idol Dak Zevon was the only man worthy of her time and affections, and various posters of his chiseled features, green eyes, and perfectly tousled chestnut hair decorated the walls of her bedroom.
But not even daydreams of Dak Zevon could make her heart flutter the way it did when Kendall sang to her.
As Kendall’s voice faded further and further away, Katie could feel herself beginning to drift off into dreamland. In her dreams, she was wrapped up in her brother’s warm embrace as his voice sang soft and low lullabies in her hair.