deep sea sleepover

A sea turtle rose up from the ocean floor, flapping its flippers like an underwater bird. Its ascent was slow and lazy. Fish of all different sizes and colors swam around it, unfazed by its sudden appearance. The sun cut through the surface of the water casting shadows of light and dark.

Ruby floated on her stomach staring down into the water. She breathed quickly through her snorkel, excited to be so close to a sea turtle. She had never seen one before. She took a deep breath and swam down towards the turtle. Surprisingly, she caught up to it with just a few kicks of her legs. She swam directly above it, kicking her feet each time the turtle propelled itself forward.

The water was warm and delicious; Ruby felt like she had been in the ocean forever. She wanted to stay like this, with the turtle, always. They had become instant friends. The turtle looked up at her often, making sure she was still shadowing him. (Somehow, Ruby knew it was a him. In the same way, she suddenly knew his name was Harold).

Ruby reached out her hand and patted Harold's shell. It was hard and smooth. Harold enjoyed the petting. He looked up at her and grinned. Ruby held on to Harold's shell, hitching a ride through the ocean.

Ruby took a big bite out of the hamburger she held in her left hand. Its juice dripped down her chin. Harold turned and frowned. Hey, he said, I'm hungry too kid. With that, Harold opened his mouth and snatched the hamburger from Ruby. He chuckled and swam away, licking his lips.

Alone in the water, Ruby floated down into the darkness. She relaxed, lulled by the rhythmic tide pushing and pulling her. The warmth of the water eased all of the tension from her body. She felt a release in her stomach, a sudden rush, instant relief.

Ruby's eyes shot open and she sat bolt upright, filling her lungs with air. She was disappointed to find herself awake and on dry land. A faint glow was visible beyond the curtains. The sun would soon fill the room with light. She looked around the bedroom. All of her friends were still nestled in their sleeping bags, dozing soundly.

Ruby hoped to snuggle down into her sleeping bag and fall back asleep. An uncomfortable dampness clung to her legs. She felt her pajama bottoms and realized they were wet. A scarlet flush crept up her neck and spread across her face. It had happened again! She had wet the bed. Well, not exactly the bed, but the Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bag she was sleeping in. The sleeping bag had already caused considerable controversy. The invitation to Lisa's sleepover had read: Bring your own sleeping bag, and Ruby had. What she hadn't realized was that, seemingly overnight, she and her friends had become almost-teenagers, pre-teens, tweens. As such, the girls had to play by a whole new set of rules. She had learned some of them the night before. Lesson 1: the first girl to fall asleep would have her training bra frozen in the freezer. (This was the first occasion that Ruby was grateful for her flat chest. There would not be a bra of any kind in her future for at least several months). Lesson 2: Playing with Barbies would be replaced with toenail painting and boy bashing. Lesson 3: Pig-outs were still okay, but would be followed by obsessing over the fat growing on hips, thighs and bellies. Ruby had not known any of this. She didn't understand when or why or how they had all changed so drastically. She didn't like the new way of things, and looked forward to being back in her own bedroom. There, she could play with dolls and chip off this stupid purple nail polish that made her feet look bruised.

Ruby had tried to quietly play by the rules, but when she unpacked her sleeping bag, she realized she was in violation already.

"Um, what's with Strawberry Shortcake, Ruby?" Alyssa had gawked at her. Ruby did a quick scan of all the other sleeping bags. They were the expensive kind, nylon on the outside, fleece or quilt on the inside, and stuffed with real down feathers. Ruby's was cotton and worn. Stuffing leaked out from Strawberry Shortcake's elbow. The only way Ruby could fit into it was to curl herself into a fetal position. She only now realized she should be embarrassed by it.

"Ugh, I know. Gross, right?" Ruby crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out, scrunching her face into a look of disgust. She hoped this would suffice. It did not.

"Um, then why bring it here?" Alyssa challenged, while the other girls snickered and poked each other.

"Well, I was actually doing a favor for my cousin Robert. See, he's an environmentalist. He's working on a cure for global warming. You know, save the polar bears from drowning and stuff."

"I love polar bears. I wish I could keep one in the jacuzzi!" Lisa crooned.

"Duh. They like the cold!" Bella challenged.

"Whatever." Lisa rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Yeah. So. What does that have to do with Strawberry Shortcake?" Alyssa refocused the attention back onto Ruby.

"I loaned him my real sleeping bag. He had to take a last minute trip to Siberia. They may have found an answer there." Ruby wasn't even sure where Siberia was, but she doubted her friends would know either.

"So let me get this straight," Alyssa smirked. "Your cousin is some big environmentalist, flying all over the world to "cure" global warming..." (here Alyssa used air quotes), "...and he doesn't have his own sleeping bag? Please." Alyssa crossed her arms defiantly over her chest, satisfied that she had defeated Ruby. The other girls held their breath, anxious to hear Ruby's response.

"I know, right?" Ruby rolled her eyes at the oddity of it all. "See. He's this really strict environmentalist. He doesn't like to own anything that's not absolutely essential to living. He doesn't want to be a part of our consumer society, so he borrows stuff when he needs to. He's like, really extreme in everything he does. But he's going to save the world. You'll see."

"Yeah. I'm sure." Alyssa glowered at Ruby, unconvinced. Just then, Mrs. Avery, Lisa's mother walked in with a tray of snacks.

"Who's hungry? I have snackipoos!" she sang. All of the girls looked uncertainly at each other, no one wanting to be the first to admit hunger.

"Oh come on girls. Live a little. It's all organic. And fat free!" The girls climbed over one another, reaching for popcorn and soy cheese balls. Ruby was saved. For the moment.

She felt her soggy pajamas and considered her options. On the previous two occasions this had happened, Ruby had been home in her own bed. The first time she had been dreaming of swimming in the Olympics, and the second time she dreamed she was sitting on the toilet. On both occasions, Ruby had gotten up and changed her pajamas and sheets, unnoticed. If her friends found out about this, she was sure she'd have to leave the country. Or kill them all in their sleep. Both options required more energy than Ruby could muster at this early hour.

A plan suddenly presented itself to Ruby. She visualized it in her head, watching it unfold step by step. If she played it out the way she envisioned it, she might be able to recover from this unfortunate incident. It was a big risk, but she saw no other options.

Ruby inched out of her wet sleeping bag, making as few movements as possible. Thankfully, the floor beneath her had not gotten wet. She stood up and draped the sleeping bag over her arms, which were stretched out straight in front of her. Her body was rigid, her gaze unblinking. She carefully walked over her friends, staring straight ahead at the bedroom door. She held her breath as she opened the squeaky bedroom door and walked out into the hallway. She continued her robotic gait until she was safely in the bathroom with the door shut behind her.

Leaving the light off, Ruby turned the faucets on in the tub. She looked nervously from the door to the slow-rising water. This was the one moment that could sink her plan. Her heart pounded so loudly in her ears she was afraid the drumming would wake up the entire house.

When the tub was almost full, Ruby turned off the faucets. She carefully stood and eased herself back into the sleeping bag. She almost fell face-first into the water with her body bound in the sleeping bag, but she righted herself in time. Inch by inch, she lowered herself, encased in the sleeping bag, down into the tub. The sleeping bag quickly absorbed the water, and the weight of it wrapped itself around Ruby. It was not an unpleasant sensation. Ruby snuggled down inside the sopping sleeping bag and let the warmth of the water envelop her.

Ruby strained her ears for any sign of life in the house. There was none. She felt safe in her cocoon as light began to filter in through the bathroom window. She felt strangely comfortable, and remembered the sensation in her dream, of floating down into the deep dark water. She drifted off to sleep, wondering if Harold would be there to greet her.

"What in the world...!"

Ruby sputtered water out of her mouth and splashed to a sitting position. She blinked back the bright light, confused and frightened. Mrs. Avery stood glowering over her in her pink bathrobe, hands firmly planted on her ample hips.

"Ruby! What are you doing in my bathtub? With your sleeping bag?" For a moment Ruby was genuinely disoriented, which worked in her favor. It all rushed back to her momentarily, and she remembered to stick to her script.

"I'm in your bathtub?" she fluttered her eyelids.

"Yes! Look at this mess! What are you doing in here?"

"I, I don't know. I was swimming the English Channel, I think."

"What are you talking about?" Here Ruby looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes for added effect.

"Oh my God. It's happened again. I am so sorry."

"What? What's happened again?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Avery. I thought I had gotten over this. You see...." Here she gulped and lowered her head. "...I'm a sleepwalker."

"A sleepwalker?"

"Yes, ma'am. But it hasn't happened in ages. I am so sorry. I didn't mean to make a mess." Mrs. Avery exhaled a long and tired breath and looked around the bathroom.

"It's all right. Let's get you out of there." Ruby stood up and wiggled out of the sleeping bag. As Mrs. Avery unstopped the tub, she groaned as if she were in pain. Ruby waited until all of the water had drained out of the tub before stepping out and into a large towel Mrs. Avery held open for her. She felt guilty for lying, but it was necessary for her self-preservation.

"Oh, Ruby. Your sleeping bag. I'm afraid it's ruined."

"That old thing? It's okay. It's not my real one anyway."

"Oh. Okay. I'll go get you some dry clothes."

"Thanks, Mrs. Avery."

Alone in the bathroom, toasty in a terry cloth bathrobe and out of her wet pajamas, Ruby smiled, knowing she had avoided social banishment.

In the days to come, Ruby became a celebrity of sorts at school. What did it feel like to sleepwalk? her friends wanted to know. Like walking with your eyes closed but still able to see everything clearly, she had responded. What was the weirdest thing she had ever done while sleepwalking? they wondered. Shoveled the sidewalk in her bathing suit in January, she responded. Even the janitor stared in amazement.

Suddenly, the new rules weren't as important for Ruby to play by. It seemed she was somehow exempt from the rules, above them all. Her behavior became "quirky", and "eccentric". If anyone dared question her wardrobe choice, Ruby quipped that she had gotten dressed in her sleep and hadn't fully woken up until third period. Everyone was in awe, waiting to see what would happen next.

Ruby enjoyed her new-found popularity. However, she had to turn down the sudden abundance of invites to sleepovers. She excused herself from these parties by explaining that she was now under observation at night, to track her bizarre behavior while sleepwalking. The truth was, she no longer had a sleeping bag since she unfortunately had had to sacrifice Strawberry Shortcake to save herself. She truly hoped that her cousin would return from Siberia soon.