Barnaby Bear was having a terrible time falling asleep. He tossed and turned, his fluffy brown fur all rumpled. He yawned a big, sleepy yawn, but his eyes were wide open.
“Why won’t you close?” he whispered to his eyelids. He tried counting sheep, but they all seemed to be wearing silly hats and doing cartwheels. He tried counting backwards, but he got stuck on 17 and started giggling.
Suddenly, Barnaby had an idea! He’d have a pillow fight! He grabbed his fluffy pillow and started pummeling his other pillows. They fought back, bouncing and flopping all over his bed. Barnaby laughed so hard he started to snore, a deep, rumbling sound that shook his little wooden bed.
Then, he decided to build a pillow fort! He stacked pillows high, creating walls and a roof. He even added a drawbridge made of a blanket! He crept inside, imagining he was a brave knight protecting his kingdom from snoring monsters.
But even inside his magnificent pillow fort, sleep wouldn’t come. He decided to create a funny story in his head. A story about a grumpy squirrel who rode a unicycle to the moon wearing a tutu. He imagined the squirrel's surprised face when it bumped into the moon's craters. This made him giggle uncontrollably.
As he laughed, he felt his eyelids getting heavy. He imagined the squirrel trying to explain the situation to the other animals on the moon. The silliness of it all was just too much. Before he knew it, Barnaby Bear was sound asleep, snoring gently amongst his pillow fort. He dreamt of silly squirrels, unicycles, and tutus, all in a moonlit world of giggles.
The next morning, Barnaby woke up feeling refreshed and happy. He realized that even when bedtime seemed tough, a little imagination and laughter could chase away the grumps and bring sweet dreams. He learned that sometimes, the silliest things can help you fall asleep!