The Bedroom on the Ceiling

Zara brushed her teeth until they were shiny and clean, put on her favorite yellow pajamas, and pushed open her bedroom door.

She stopped right on the doormat.

Her bedroom floor was completely bare, because her colorful braided rug was hovering in the air like a magic carpet. Right past Zara's nose drifted her two fuzzy bunny slippers, kicking their pink ears as if they were swimming in a pond. High above the dresser, Bramble, her brown teddy bear, was turning slow somersaults near the lampshade.

And up at the very top of the room, her big wooden bed was bumping against the ceiling. Bump. Bump. It floated there like a sleepy boat upside down on the water.

Zara giggled, but then she tapped her chin. "Well," she whispered to the empty floorboards, "I can't go to bed if my bed is all the way up there."

Just then, a wave of tiredness washed over her. Zara opened her mouth wide and let out a yawn. "Haa-aaah."

Swish!

The braided rug gave a flutter. Like an autumn leaf dropping through still air, it drifted straight down and landed with a pat right where it belonged.

Zara blinked. She looked at the rug, and then she looked up at the ceiling. "Every time I yawn," Zara whispered happily, "something floats back home!"

She wanted her slippers next. Her feet were getting chilly on the bare wood. Zara stood on tiptoe, stretched her arms, and tried to yawn on purpose. She scrunched her nose. She puffed out her cheeks. But fake yawns didn't work.

Then she thought about warm bubble baths, a mug of warm milk, and heavy woolen blankets. A real yawn bubbled up from deep inside her chest.

"Haa-aa-aaah," went Zara, patting her open mouth.

High in the air, the two fuzzy slippers paused. They turned neat circles, drifted nose-down through the quiet air, and landed together right at Zara's toes. She slipped her chilly feet straight inside. They were as warm as toast.

"Two things down," Zara whispered.

Up near the ceiling lamp, Bramble was still turning his slow, woolly somersaults. His stitched smile seemed to say he was having a grand time, but bedtime was Bramble's favorite part of the day. He needed to be tucked in.

Zara watched him float. She thought about rocking chairs swaying back and forth. She thought about big purring cats curled up on rugs. Sleepiness crept right into her shoulders. Her eyelids felt heavy.

This time, the yawn was twice as big as the last one.

"Haa-aa-aa-aaah," Zara yawned, stretching both arms high above her head.

Bramble stopped spinning. Slowly, softly, the bear sank toward her, his fuzzy paws drifting outward. Zara reached up, opened her arms wide, and caught him right against her chest.

"Got you, Bramble," she whispered, burying her nose in his plush fur.

Now only one thing remained. Up above, the big wooden bed rested against the white ceiling, still bumping like a raft on a quiet lake. Bump. Bump. It looked so comfortable with its blue pillows and its thick patchwork quilt, but it was much too high to reach.

Zara held Bramble tight with one arm and rested her chin on his head. She listened to the room. The house was peaceful. Outside, the night was calm and dark. She felt heavy from her ears down to her bunny slippers.

Her mouth opened into the biggest, widest, sleepiest yawn of the whole night.

"Haaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaah..."

The big bed gently unhitched from the ceiling. Down it drifted, rocking side to side, lighter than a feather on the wind. As the mattress floated past her waist, Zara didn't even wait for it to touch the floorboards. She stepped right onto the sheets and pulled herself under the patchwork quilt.

Down, down, down drifted the bed, carrying Zara and Bramble with it, until it settled on the floor with the quietest creak.

Everything was in its place. The rug was on the floor. The slippers waited by the edge. Bramble was tucked beneath her chin.

Zara pulled the quilt all the way up to her ears. She closed her heavy eyes, nestled deep into the pillow, and drifted off to sleep.