It was a dark and stormy night. No wait, it wasn’t dark or stormy at all. In fact, Nathaniel just had a knack for the dramatic. He was laying on his bed staring up at the ceiling, considering several options for his newest fantasy story.
A crumpled blanket underneath him displayed characters from the "old school" Star Wars movie. Even though he was only 8 years old, he didn't let that stop him from loving the classics.
A nearby wookie—or rather the wookie—held a crossbow in his hand and brandished an open mouth, frozen in a silent howl. The figure stood on Nathaniel's bedside table as light from a nearby lamp projected a large shadow on the far wall. Nathaniel often pretended that the shadow was a full size version of Chewbacca, visiting him from another planet just to share in his adventures, but right now the boy was too consumed with putting together his own story to give it any consideration.
Dwarfs, thought Nathaniel. I need dwarfs, dark and light ones that ride on the back of creatures that look like cats. There also needs to be characters from another world, and a batlike creature to oversee everything. Oh, and there has to be an Asian who can fight, can't forget about that.
“Nathaniel,” a menacing voice came from the other side of his bedroom door.
Agents from Double L discovered his secret hideout and were about to infiltrate his room. Drat! They found me! He quickly rolled out of bed and yelled, “You'll never take me alive!”
The door swung open as a flash of light came in from the hallway. Nathaniel dashed for a nearby gun, grabbed it with both hands, and then aimed it at the entrance. A figure appeared with jutting elbows and hands resting on hips.
Bang! A bullet shot out of the gun and bounced off the stomach of the intruder, but nothing happened. No dead body hit the ground. No screams of pain.
“Very funny, Nathaniel,” said the standing figure. “Now how about you turn off your light and go to bed.”
“Yes Mom,” Nathaniel said as if accepting defeat. She never allowed him to have any fun. It was like trying to get a statue to smile.
She closed the door behind her and Nathaniel jumped back into bed. He reached over and clicked off his lamp—the image of Chewbacca vanished from the wall. He closed his eyes and sighed. After pondering several more story ideas, he drifted to sleep.
Nathaniel sat up in bed. What woke him? Was it a nightmare? The room was dark, the only light came from the moon that was glowing through the tree branches outside his window. There was something creepy yet exciting about it, but it would have to wait. He wanted to be fully rested. After all Halloween was tomorrow, and being tired while trick-or-treating wasn't an appealing idea.
With a sigh he laid back down and closed his eyes.
The bed shook. Nathaniel's eyes popped open again. What was that? He waited, but nothing happened. After a few more minutes of waiting he finally settled back down.
Another shake. His eyes opened wider this time. There was definitely something going on. He sat up on his bed. "Who's there?" he shouted.
As if in reply the bed shook again, harder this time. Nathaniel grabbed his blanket and held it tight—the image of Luke Skywalker wrinkled under his firm grip. If only he could pull the lightsaber out of the blanket and use it to defend himself. That would be a sight to see. No one would dare threaten him then.
A sharp pain pierced the back of his neck. His heart stopped. Something was behind him. Perhaps it was a creature from another world, a fuzzy furball, similar to the ones from movies such as Critters and Gremlins. It would chew off his fingers and his mother would find his bloody corpse in the morning. Did he dare turn around and look? Another sharp pain jabbed into his neck and then vanished. Nathaniel's hand instinctively grasped at the wound. At this rate he was going to die, and slowly, so what difference did it make?
He turned his head and gasped. The end of a tiny crossbow was pointed strait at him, and behind it, the face of a small wookie.
“Wrrrrrrooooow,” it growled, as if taken directly from a Star Wars soundtrack.
This wasn't his imagination anymore. It was for real. Of all the times he pretended the action figure of Chewbacca was alive, never once did he imagine it would actually happen.
The wookie walked forward, took aim, and shot another bolt of energy from his crossbow. The glowing object came at Nathaniel's face in what seemed to be slow motion. Time had forgotten how to move. Then suddenly a bright, green beam flashed in front of Nathaniel's face. Warmth burned against his cheeks as he saw the bolt from the crossbow strike the beam and dissipate with a resounding snap!
The beam hummed as it jerked away, and seconds later Nathaniel found himself staring at the face of Luke Skywalker. At least it looked like Luke Skywalker, a much smaller version of him that is; with a head the size of a grapefruit. In fact this Luke was just about the size of the one pictured on his blanket. His blanket! Nathaniel looked down. The image of Luke was no longer there. He turned his saucer like eyes upward once again. Luke stared back at him.
“That was close,” said Luke. The saber beam returned to its handle with a reverse swish.
Nathaniel said nothing. He couldn't find the words. Shock must have been written all over his face.
Luke turned and faced the angry Chewbacca.
“Whooor, wowrould, whaaaa,” the wookie retorted. Luke smiled and reached out his hand. The wookie lowered his crossbow and leapt onto Luke's palm, and with a slight downward motion, was lowered to the bed. It jumped down and gave Nathaniel a disapproving look.
“Go ahead,” Luke said. “You've been alone for far too long, it's okay.”
Accepting the invitation, the wookie closed his eyes. A brilliant light glowed beneath the wookie's feet as he sank into the blanket. Moments later he was gone, or was he? To Nathaniel's surprise an image of a wookie appeared on the fabric, as if it had always been there . . . and he was holding a crossbow.
Luke smiled at Nathaniel, walked back onto the blanket, and then melted like butter on a hot day. All that was left of him was his image, just like it was before, only this time there was a smile on Luke's face.
Nathaniel shivered as he lay on his bed with only sheets covering him. A warm blanket—crumpled up in a laundry hamper—was at the far side of the room. For some reason he no longer cared about being rested for trick-or-treating; just getting through the night would be enough.
A crumpled blanket underneath him displayed characters from the "old school" Star Wars movie. Even though he was only 8 years old, he didn't let that stop him from loving the classics.
A nearby wookie—or rather the wookie—held a crossbow in his hand and brandished an open mouth, frozen in a silent howl. The figure stood on Nathaniel's bedside table as light from a nearby lamp projected a large shadow on the far wall. Nathaniel often pretended that the shadow was a full size version of Chewbacca, visiting him from another planet just to share in his adventures, but right now the boy was too consumed with putting together his own story to give it any consideration.
Dwarfs, thought Nathaniel. I need dwarfs, dark and light ones that ride on the back of creatures that look like cats. There also needs to be characters from another world, and a batlike creature to oversee everything. Oh, and there has to be an Asian who can fight, can't forget about that.
“Nathaniel,” a menacing voice came from the other side of his bedroom door.
Agents from Double L discovered his secret hideout and were about to infiltrate his room. Drat! They found me! He quickly rolled out of bed and yelled, “You'll never take me alive!”
The door swung open as a flash of light came in from the hallway. Nathaniel dashed for a nearby gun, grabbed it with both hands, and then aimed it at the entrance. A figure appeared with jutting elbows and hands resting on hips.
Bang! A bullet shot out of the gun and bounced off the stomach of the intruder, but nothing happened. No dead body hit the ground. No screams of pain.
“Very funny, Nathaniel,” said the standing figure. “Now how about you turn off your light and go to bed.”
“Yes Mom,” Nathaniel said as if accepting defeat. She never allowed him to have any fun. It was like trying to get a statue to smile.
She closed the door behind her and Nathaniel jumped back into bed. He reached over and clicked off his lamp—the image of Chewbacca vanished from the wall. He closed his eyes and sighed. After pondering several more story ideas, he drifted to sleep.
Nathaniel sat up in bed. What woke him? Was it a nightmare? The room was dark, the only light came from the moon that was glowing through the tree branches outside his window. There was something creepy yet exciting about it, but it would have to wait. He wanted to be fully rested. After all Halloween was tomorrow, and being tired while trick-or-treating wasn't an appealing idea.
With a sigh he laid back down and closed his eyes.
The bed shook. Nathaniel's eyes popped open again. What was that? He waited, but nothing happened. After a few more minutes of waiting he finally settled back down.
Another shake. His eyes opened wider this time. There was definitely something going on. He sat up on his bed. "Who's there?" he shouted.
As if in reply the bed shook again, harder this time. Nathaniel grabbed his blanket and held it tight—the image of Luke Skywalker wrinkled under his firm grip. If only he could pull the lightsaber out of the blanket and use it to defend himself. That would be a sight to see. No one would dare threaten him then.
A sharp pain pierced the back of his neck. His heart stopped. Something was behind him. Perhaps it was a creature from another world, a fuzzy furball, similar to the ones from movies such as Critters and Gremlins. It would chew off his fingers and his mother would find his bloody corpse in the morning. Did he dare turn around and look? Another sharp pain jabbed into his neck and then vanished. Nathaniel's hand instinctively grasped at the wound. At this rate he was going to die, and slowly, so what difference did it make?
He turned his head and gasped. The end of a tiny crossbow was pointed strait at him, and behind it, the face of a small wookie.
“Wrrrrrrooooow,” it growled, as if taken directly from a Star Wars soundtrack.
This wasn't his imagination anymore. It was for real. Of all the times he pretended the action figure of Chewbacca was alive, never once did he imagine it would actually happen.
The wookie walked forward, took aim, and shot another bolt of energy from his crossbow. The glowing object came at Nathaniel's face in what seemed to be slow motion. Time had forgotten how to move. Then suddenly a bright, green beam flashed in front of Nathaniel's face. Warmth burned against his cheeks as he saw the bolt from the crossbow strike the beam and dissipate with a resounding snap!
The beam hummed as it jerked away, and seconds later Nathaniel found himself staring at the face of Luke Skywalker. At least it looked like Luke Skywalker, a much smaller version of him that is; with a head the size of a grapefruit. In fact this Luke was just about the size of the one pictured on his blanket. His blanket! Nathaniel looked down. The image of Luke was no longer there. He turned his saucer like eyes upward once again. Luke stared back at him.
“That was close,” said Luke. The saber beam returned to its handle with a reverse swish.
Nathaniel said nothing. He couldn't find the words. Shock must have been written all over his face.
Luke turned and faced the angry Chewbacca.
“Whooor, wowrould, whaaaa,” the wookie retorted. Luke smiled and reached out his hand. The wookie lowered his crossbow and leapt onto Luke's palm, and with a slight downward motion, was lowered to the bed. It jumped down and gave Nathaniel a disapproving look.
“Go ahead,” Luke said. “You've been alone for far too long, it's okay.”
Accepting the invitation, the wookie closed his eyes. A brilliant light glowed beneath the wookie's feet as he sank into the blanket. Moments later he was gone, or was he? To Nathaniel's surprise an image of a wookie appeared on the fabric, as if it had always been there . . . and he was holding a crossbow.
Luke smiled at Nathaniel, walked back onto the blanket, and then melted like butter on a hot day. All that was left of him was his image, just like it was before, only this time there was a smile on Luke's face.
Nathaniel shivered as he lay on his bed with only sheets covering him. A warm blanket—crumpled up in a laundry hamper—was at the far side of the room. For some reason he no longer cared about being rested for trick-or-treating; just getting through the night would be enough.
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