The sugary guide to good sleep.

Once upon a time in a town not far from our dreams, where the trees are made of cotton candy and the streets are paved with jelly beans. Where houses are made from gingerbread, and the chocolate rivers flow past, lives Hapless, the sweetest bean of all the beans in Sugarville.

Hapless has had a nice long day, spending time with all his friends and playing around in Sugarville. But it’s time to make his way back home and snuggle up tight in his marshmallow bed. He’ll have to take on the trip through town, saying goodnight to all of his friends along the way. Will you join Hapless on his journey?

As the setting sun paints the sky in shades of pink and orange, all the beans make their own way home. First we’ll go past Ninny’s ginger house. Hapless skips and hops along, all the way down the jelly bean road until we’ve reached our destination. Ninny is restless and Hapless usually has some trouble getting him to bed. What can we do to help Ninny fall asleep? Hapless is going to sing him to sleep with a sweet lullaby. Ninny’s eyes are getting heavy and a big yawn escapes his mouth as he slowly drifts off to sleep to the soft tune filling the room. Ninny is fast asleep. It’s time to move along to tuck in another friend.

He skips and hops along, all the way down the jelly bean road until we’ve reached our next stop. Lax’s ginger house is only a few hops away. Lax was already cuddled up in his own marshmallow bed, ready for sleep to fall over him like a soft cloudy blanket. Only he just couldn’t seem to fall asleep. What can we do to help Lax fall asleep? Hapless is going to heat up a tall glass of milk for his friend. Lax chug, chug, chugged the milk and soon after, he drifted off to the land of dreams. Lax is fast asleep. It’s time to move along to tuck in another friend.

Hapless is getting just as sleepy as his friends and he lets out a big yawn. We’re almost to his house. Only a few more friends left to send off to the land of dreams. The once pink and orange sky is turning to a magical deep purple as the sun tucks itself deeper behind the Candy Mountains surrounding Sugarville. The gentle evening breeze wisps through the fluffy cotton candy trees and a chirpy family of birds nesting in the tippy top of the branches cozy up in their little nest.

Hapless skips and hops along, all the way down the jelly bean road until we finally reach our next destination. Numpty’s ginger house is just ahead and he needs help getting to sleep. He’s had a busy day of running around and he can’t seem to keep his eyes closed. What can we do to help Numpty fall asleep? Hapless tells Numpty about counting sheep. 1 sheep, 2 sheep, 3 sheep bouncing over the hill. 4 sheep, 5 sheep, 6…Numpty’s eyes slowly but surely get sleepy as he counts his little sheep hopping over one hill and over the next and before he got to 10 he drifted away. Numpty was fast asleep. It was time to tuck in the next friend.

Hapless skips and hops along, all the way down the jelly bean road. We’ve reached our final stop before ending the day completely; Dippy’s ginger house. And he’s having trouble falling asleep. He’d been busy the whole day and rest was soon to come. What can we do to help Dippy fall asleep? Hapless is going to read him a bedtime story. Dippy cozied up in his marshmallow bed, waiting in anticipation for a story to put him to sleep. Hapless read to him about castles and kingdoms, about kings and queens. He read about the knights and the dragon and how they were too brave to flee. And before they could even reach the end, Dippy was snoozing away. He was fast asleep. It was time to end off our day.

Hapless was eager and ready to head to bed. His friends have all been tucked in and his day has come to the very end. The once majestically purple skies have dimmed its light to show the millions of stars glitter in beautiful constellations and shining over the sleepy town of Sugarville. The soft sounds of snores fill the atmosphere. The sun has said its goodbye, turning behind the mountains and getting its rest after a long day of shining brightly. Now it’s the moon’s turn to light the world. Its silvery gleam softly falls on every surface and wakes the crickets to fill the night with their chirping chorus.

As he skips and hops along, all the way down the jelly bean road he thinks back to all the magical adventures he had today and the friends he got to see. He thinks of all he could do tomorrow and of any new games he could play. Hapless had sung to Ninny his sweet lullabies and said his goodnight. He had given Lax a warm glass of milk and tucked him in all snug. He had helped Numpty count his sheep until he rested his head. He had read bedtime stories to Dippy until he was asleep in a far off land. He had even said a quick goodnight to the family of birds he passed in the tree.

We’ve finally reached our final stop. Hapless breathes a sigh of relief. He opens the door to his ginger house and plops onto his soft, marshmallow bed. The stars and moon are shining their light through his bedroom window and the soft cricket lullaby tunes in from the outside. Hapless rests his head on his softest pillow, snuggles up in his cloudy blanket and cuddles his fluffiest teddy bear. He’s dozing off. Slowly drifting away to the land of dreams where all his friends are eagerly waiting for him to join their dreamy adventures. He’s fast asleep. Goodnight Sugarville. Goodnight Hapless. Goodnight friends and goodnight you.

THE END.