Saturday, February 1, 2014

A Sleepwalking Tale





A sleepwalker can be defined as someone that’ll drive you crazy trying to keep up with em all the time.
They have no knowledge of what they do or where they’ve been. It’s the people around em that has to be on their toes and constantly jumping out of their skin.
We had a sleepwalking cousin that used to stay at our house quite a bit. When he spent the night it was Katie bar the door and lickety split.
That boy could sleep walk with the best of em and that’s no lie. My mama never slept a wink, she was always on standby.
He’d wait till the wee hours of the night and everyone was fast asleep. He’d come out of that bed and like a deer, mama would leap.
She’d have to put him on a pallet in the middle of the floor. He slept in the middle with two of my brothers, he still hit the door.
There were a few times mama dozed a little and that boy beat it all. She found him one night at the back of the house down on all fours tryin to crawl.
She had to give him a big shake to get him awake. She said, son wake up and stop this stuff for goodness sake.
My poor mama was a nervous wreck when he came to stay.
She loved him like one of her own but all she could do was pray
And lock the doors up really tight, padlock,  key lock and any other lock, it was an awful sight
He scared the living daylights out of us all one night.  Mama woke us up to help search and we looked till close to daylight.
We found him sittin up against the old woodshed at the crack of dawn. He’d slipped out quicker than a cat could lick and was gone.
We never could figure out how he did it so well. That boy was scary as a booger when he took a sleepwalking spell.
He’d have this blank face and scary, glassy, lookin eyes. He acted like some walkin zombie, I tell ya no lies.
Needless to say, mama loved him but was filled with dread every time he came. She said, there’s somethin wrong with that youngun, in the daytime he ain’t the same.
So mama decided to go ahead and sit up one night and watch him real close. That boy never turned over till daylight and the sun rose.
He was really a good kid and loved staying at our house all the time. He would have moved in but mama would’ve went crazy and lost her mind.
We loved him like a brother and tried to adjust. He was the most gentle and kind soul but a sleepwalker ya can’t trust.
He sleepwalked in his own world and never remembered a thing. Till today I call him the sleepwalking king.
And he sure did love mama’s biscuits and gravy every morn. He’d be the first one to the table and act innocent as the day he was born.
He’d eat like a pig and was ready to head out with the boys to play.  Just a normal kid doing kid stuff until the end of the day.
After supper when he’d get his belly full mama would try to talk him into going home. After all, she needed a night’s sleep and the tiredness shown.
He’d always come up with some kind of pitiful excuse to stay and mama couldn’t turn him down and everyday her hair turned more gray.
This went on for quite a few years till the older he grew. We actually missed him and mama did too.
Now, I’m not gonna name any names but I’m sure he  knows that we still love him like our own. I wonder if he still sleepwalks now that he’s married and grown.
My mama said one time, I sure do dread it someday for his wife.  She’ll be put to the test, she’ll never sleep the rest of her life.

© Susie Swanson 2014

I don't know why I wrote this one but if a certain cousin I know finds out  he'll die laughing. I can only imagine what my mom would say. LOL  .
The temps got up to 60 here today and the snow and ice is almost gone. Tomorrow is Groundhog Day and I sure hope he gets his predictions right this year. The best I can remember, last year he predicted we would have an early spring and when it came time for spring winter really started coming in. We even got a little snow in April. People were wondering how and when they were gonna get their gardens planted. Oh well, I hope ya'll are getting a break from the snow and ice. Blessings, Susie


19 comments:

  1. I enjoyed your story about your sleep walking relative. That is really scary. No wonder your mama's hair turned grey!

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  2. Susie this is Ramblingon. I am still on my kitty's account but ZI wanted to say I loved EVERY word! You are TALENTED, girl!

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  3. Hi Susie, Your poet was funny. I think sleepwalking would be scary. Glad you got some better weather. We had about 10 inches, after we were forecasted to have about 3. There a big system headed our way for Tuesday. Hope it's snowed out before it gets here. Take care. Enjoy this Sunday. xoxo,Susie

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    1. Thank you Susie. I knew ya'll have been covered up with it and I' sending prayers. Let's pray for an early spring.

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  4. Sleep walking ~ a strange thing isn't it!
    Enjoy your warmer weather for it won't last long I'm sure. We've had a mixture of sleet and snow this morning and more than likely it's headed your way.

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  5. Thank you Charlotte. It sure is. I hope it doesn't hit ya'll to bad. This has been one for the record books.

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  6. Ha! Very cute poem, Susie! My brother did some sleep walking when he was quite small, but fortunately he grew out of it.

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    1. Thanks Daisy. I sure hope he wasn't as bad as my cousin. LOL.

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  7. Oh, Susie, this is so funny. I enjoyed this story very much. You've done such a wonderful job with it. I like very much the way you wrote it with the rhymning words.
    I'm glad it's warmed up and hope you will have a great day.
    I wonder if the groundhog saw its shadow yesterday?

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    1. Thank you so much Brenda. I'm glad we're getting a break from the cold as well. I've heard different stories on whether he saw his shadow or not but I hope we have an early spring.

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  8. Fun poem! We have been planning for our garden, and though winter will still show it's frosty head, it's exciting to think of the possibilities. I have daffodils that are sprouting already...maybe they know something we don't!

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    1. Awe, thank you lise. If your daffodils are sprouting maybe mine is. I sure hope it's good sign.

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  9. This poem is about my husband!
    he used to sleepwalk as a child, but only once do I ever remember him doing it since we've been married.
    We are getting more snow predicted for tomorrow here!
    Can't wait to see green grass again!
    Blessings and love~ Lisa

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    1. Thank you Lisa. Some grow out of it and some don't. You take care in the bad weather. I'm still praying for you.

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  10. Susie, I have never known anyone who sleepwalked, and after reading this I have to say - I'M GLAD!!! Great story. Thanks for sharing.

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  11. Hi Susie, this post hit home. My oldest son used to sleep walk. We'd place a big dining room chair up against the front door before we went to bed at night. We figured by the time he moved it, we'd hear what was going on and get to him before he got outside - and we usually did. Thank goodness, he doesn't do it any more.

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