The Donkey Who Didn’t Want to Nap

Molly was the most stubbornly awake donkey in the entire valley. While every other animal settled down for afternoon naptime, Molly stood in the middle of the meadow with her eyes WIDE open, her ears pointing straight up, and her hooves planted firmly in the ground.

“Nap time, Molly!” called Farmer Beatrice from the barn door.

“HEEEE-HAWWW! NO!” brayed Molly. “Naps are for babies and butterflies and boring old bears! I’m too busy being AMAZING!”

And with that, Molly galloped off to prove just how un-sleepy she was.

First, she zoomed over to the chicken coop. “Watch this!” she announced, attempting to do a fancy spin. But her legs got all tangled up like spaghetti, and she tumbled into a pile of hay. The chickens clucked with laughter.

“Maybe you’re a teensy bit tired?” suggested Henrietta the hen.

“TIRED? ME?” Molly shook the hay from her ears. “I’m just warming up!”

Next, she trotted to the duck pond, where the ducks were floating peacefully with their beaks tucked under their wings.

“Sleeping is for quitters!” Molly declared. “Watch me walk backwards in a circle while humming the alphabet!”

She made it to the letter F before she bumped straight into a tree trunk. BONK!

“Careful there,” quacked Douglas the duck sleepily. “You seem a bit… wobbly.”

“Wobbly? I’m WONDERFUL!” insisted Molly, though her eyelids were beginning to feel as heavy as watermelons.

She pranced over to the pigpen, where all the pigs were snoring in a cozy, muddy pile.

“WAKE UP, EVERYONE!” Molly shouted. “I’m going to show you my new talent—standing on three legs while singing opera!”

She lifted one hoof dramatically and opened her mouth to sing, but what came out was an enormous YAWN that seemed to last for seven whole seconds.

“Uh-oh,” snorted Penelope the pig without even opening her eyes. “Someone’s getting sleepy.”

“AM NOT!” Molly stomped all four hooves. But the stomping was slower than usual, and her head was starting to feel droopy, like a flower without enough water.

She wandered over to the sheep pasture, where every single sheep was napping in a fluffy white cloud of wool.

“Sheep!” called Molly, but it came out quieter than she meant it to. “I need to tell you something very important about… about…”

She forgot what she was going to say. Her thoughts were getting fuzzy and mixed up, like trying to remember a dream.

“Come rest with us,” baaed Sharon the sheep kindly. “The grass is soft, and the sun is warm.”

“No, no, NO!” Molly shook her head, which made her even dizzier. “I have things to do! Very important donkey business! Like… like…”

She couldn’t remember what the important business was.

Her legs started walking without her permission, carrying her slowly toward the big oak tree in the middle of the meadow.

“Traitor legs,” she mumbled.

Under the oak tree, Farmer Beatrice had left a cozy blanket, just the right size for a stubborn donkey. Molly stood beside it, swaying slightly.

“I’ll just stand here for a minute,” she told herself. “Just to rest my hooves. NOT to nap.”

But her knees began to bend, just a little.

“Maybe I’ll sit. Sitting isn’t sleeping.”

Her bottom touched the blanket.

“Very soft blanket,” she murmured. “But I’m definitely not lying down.”

Except she was already lying down, though she didn’t quite remember doing it.

“Just resting my eyes for one tiny second,” she whispered. “To make them stronger for all my afternoon adventures…”

Her words got quieter and quieter until they were just little puffs of air.

Above her, a robin sang a gentle song. A butterfly landed on her nose, then flew away. The warm breeze rustled through the oak leaves, making a sound like the world’s softest lullaby.

Molly’s eyes closed.

And she began to snore—tiny little donkey snores that sounded like “hee-snore, haw-snore, hee-snore, haw-snore.”

Farmer Beatrice tiptoed over and smiled. She tucked the blanket gently around Molly’s fuzzy gray ears.

All around the farm, the animals smiled in their sleep. The chickens dreamed of golden corn. The ducks dreamed of sparkling ponds. The pigs dreamed of the perfect mud puddle. And the sheep dreamed of counting themselves.

But Molly? Molly dreamed she was wide awake, doing cartwheels across rainbows and singing opera to the moon—the most amazing, adventurous dream any donkey ever had.

When she woke up two hours later, refreshed and energetic, she announced to everyone: “I’ve made an important discovery! Napping is actually a VERY exciting adventure—you just have to close your eyes to find it!”

And from that day on, Molly still pretended she didn’t want to nap. But everyone noticed she didn’t protest quite as much, and her afternoon “eye resting sessions” under the oak tree became the highlight of her day.

Because sometimes, the most stubborn donkeys make the very best nappers.

The End

Sweet dreams, little one. Even the most energetic adventurers need their rest.

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