Overgrown Wool

 

            Oscar let out a long, tired sigh as he settled into his pillow. He and Dad had spent the afternoon shearing the sheep in their flock, and he was exhausted. Even after a shower, he could still smell the sheep all around him. His last thought before falling asleep was, I might as well be sleeping out in the pasture with the sheep.

            When he opened his eyes to morning sunshine, he couldn’t tell where he was. Looking above him, the ceiling looked impossibly high. He had kicked off his blankets at some point during the night, but when he reached for them, they felt unbelievably heavy. Rolling out of bed, he fell to the floor.

            “Ow!” he yelped as he rubbed his shoulder. His jaw dropped as he pulled himself up to stand and gazed up to his bed. It was taller than he was! How had that happened?

            “Mom?” He started moving toward his door, which seemed to be much farther away than he remembered. When he finally got there, he realized he couldn’t reach the handle. “Mom!” He pounded the huge door with his fists, panicking now as he cried out. “Someone, come and help me! I can’t reach the doorknob!”

            When Mom finally came to open his door, she knelt down to talk to him. She still towered over his head. “Good morning, Oscar,” she said with a pleasant smile. “What’s the matter? Are you worried about school or something?”

            Gazing up into his mother’s face, he couldn’t believe he had to explain this to her. “I shrank! I don’t know what happened to me!”

            Mom lay a giant hand on Oscar’s forehead with a frown on her face. “Hmm, I don’t think you have a fever or anything. You’re the same size you’ve always been. I bet you have a test today, and you’re trying to get out of it, right?”

            Panic invaded him and he turned nearly hysterical. “How can I go to school like this?” He gestured to himself. “This isn’t normal!”

            “Tsk, tsk.” Mom shook her head disapprovingly. “Come on, Oscar. You’re not getting out of school.”

            To his great indignation, she picked him up and carried him to the closet. She set him on a shelf where his clothes were hung up neatly, thankfully in his own size. His protests fell on deaf ears as she urged him to get dressed and then carried him down to breakfast and sat him on the giant table with a small plate of scrambled eggs. She watched him sternly as he choked down some food.

            Her last remark to him as she set him outside on the front porch was, “Don’t forget your homework.” She handed him a giant piece of paper and slammed the door.

            Thoroughly bewildered and more than a little scared, he set the giant paper down. There was no way he would be able to carry that thing all the way to school. On a normal day, it only took him ten minutes to walk to school, but after fifteen minutes of nearly running, he finally reached the edge of his yard. Ready to give up, he threw himself down into the tall grass, trying to catch his breath. A deafening bleat made him jump up again.

            “Baaaa!” One of the sheep was reaching through the fence and munching on the grass. Terrified, Oscar backed away as quickly as he could and watched as the sheep let out another long “Baaaa.”

            The front door of the house opened and Mom called out, “Oscar, are you still here? You’re going to be late for school!” She slammed the door again.

            All Oscar could do was shake his head. How was he going to get to school before it started? If he continued on foot, the school day would be over before he even got there. Looking around for inspiration, his gaze landed on the sheep, still munching away.

            A crazy idea popped into Oscar’s head. Why not? Before thinking it over too carefully, he ran closer to the sheep, careful to stay away from its mouth. He reached one long sheep’s leg and jumped on top of the hoof. He climbed until he reached the sheep’s back. Settling himself onto the base of the neck, he called out, “Yah! Let’s go to school!” He kicked his heels hard against the sheep and tugged on its shortened wool coat.

            The sheep didn’t move. It continued grazing, completely oblivious to the small boy on its back. Oscar yelled, hit, and did everything he could to try to get the sheep’s attention.

            Frustrated and exhausted, he finally gave up and flopped onto his back, still on top of the sheep. He moved his hands over the soft wool that was already starting to grow back after being sheared yesterday. He was so tired. He closed his eyes as he felt himself slipping off to sleep, the warm sheep underneath him.

            Oscar’s alarm clock rang shrilly, and he instinctively reached for the snooze button. Popping his eyes open, he glanced around his bedroom—his normal-sized bedroom. Happiness filled him as he jumped out of bed and hurriedly got ready for school.

            After bounding down the stairs for a quick breakfast, he ran out the door, calling out goodbye. He took a deep breath of the fresh morning air and reached the end of their yard in five strides. He’d never been so happy to wake up from a dream.

            One of the sheep let out a loud “Baaaa!” and Oscar took off running, afraid to even think about the animal. After yesterday and last night, he’d had enough of sheep.