The Medical Case of the Sleeping Girl that was Always Tired - A Fairytale
by
Alisha C. R. Swartz
- November 16, 2016
There once was a girl in a far away land that was always tired.
Even as a baby the little girl slept all day and all night. But whenever her parents awoke her, she started crying like a hound and soon fell asleep again for she was always tired.
The little girl got older and now had duties to fulfill.
She had to rise early, earlier even than the sun. She had to walk many a miles to get to school. Over hills and under trees. Down narrow paths and through raging rivers.
Exhausted she eventually arrived in class. The teacher would teach her about unteachable things. Hours upon hours a soothing soprano talked about trigonometry and astronomy and biochemistry and all the girl could concentrate on was sleep. Her head became heavier, her eyelids started fluttering and within a nick of time, she was sound asleep dreaming about triangles and stars and enzymes. The teacher of course, got very upset, raised the pointer, aimed for the little girl's fingers and whoosh! The girl shrieked awake and almost fell off her chair.
This lovely routine went on for a while until the teacher was tired of the girl being tired. She grabbed her by the ears and dragged her - through raging rivers and down narrow paths, under trees and over hills - all the way to her family, who was most disappointed about the lacking interest for education of their daughter.
'Mummy, mummy, I can explain!', the little girl cried.
'Go on, explain', the mother said.
'You know I sleep well at night', the girl pleaded. 'I sleep and sleep for hours-'
'And never do any work', the father interrupted.
'I can't help myself I'm just always so very tired. It must be a curse!'
The girl was quite happy with the explanation she came up with. Her parents weren't and had her clean the privy for two fortnights.
I can't go on like this, the little girl thought to herself. So she taught herself methods to stay awake. First she tried pinching herself. That worked right enough but she was quickly covered in pink scars from head to toe. Sunday came around and she was too ashamed to go to church looking like a beggar's child.
Secondly she thought some horrible thoughts whenever she got tired. She imagined mean Mr. Downey, the neighbour from across the street, chopping down her beloved apple tree. This unsettled her so much that she could not possibly fall asleep. But after a while she had to think of new things. She moved onto the third method after she came home crying because she thought about her grandmother suddenly dying.
The third method was the best method. She was really proud of it. Every morning she stood in front of the mirror and dipped her fingers into charcoal and goat cheese and drew two wide awake eyes on her lids. Unfortunately, her trick was revealed when the teacher asked her a question and the girl stared her straight in the eyes not saying a word, not even blinking.
Her parents were so embarrassed about this incident that they send their daughter off to the loony bin. The girl lived a happy life there. The madhouse was the perfect place for a day-long nap every day of the week. Unhappily, the doctors soon became aware of her extraordinary sleeping habit. They were most interested in the medical case of the sleeping girl that was always tired. And so they did what every reasonable medico would do. They put her in a lab and ran a great amount of tests. No sleep for 24 hours, no sleep for two weeks, switching between exercise and sleep every 30 minutes, drinking an ounce of whisky before going to sleep, wearing a pink dress to sleep and lastly: sleeping until she would sleep no more. The last test was never finished due to a careless cleaner who woke the girl after three months during which the quacks utterly forgot they were still running an experiment on the girl and to be exact, forgot about the girl too. As soon as they were reminded of her they were curious once again. How can a girl, who's hardly awake always be tired without being sick?
It didn't take long for a journalist to find out about this. Journalists seem to gravitate towards news stories like the girl towards bed. Each paper and every magazine wrote about the sleeping girl that is always tired. People were fascinated by her. They wrote stories and songs and every corner whispered: 'Have you heard about the girl? She is always sleeping and tired even more.'
Sooner or later the chitchat reached an electrician. Overly excited he contacted the girl's parents.
'Can you cure her?', the mother asked.
'No', he said. 'Definitely not. But I can help both you and the girl and the rest of the village.'
And this is how: the electrician found a way to turn the girl's snoring into electricity. He built a huge machine with many wires and buttons attached to it. It made a lot of beeping noises and frankly, looked quite scary. He put a medical mask over the girl's mouth and connected it to the machine. At the other end he plugged in a light bulb and ding! It lit up sure enough.
The parents were extremely happy about those circumstances for it meant they could charge people to buy their electricity. The village was extremely happy about this too for the village was so far out in the woods, that they've never been able to have electricity ever before.
And the girl?
The girl slept and slept and slept forevermore. And their was a smile on her lips for all eternity.
Even as a baby the little girl slept all day and all night. But whenever her parents awoke her, she started crying like a hound and soon fell asleep again for she was always tired.
The little girl got older and now had duties to fulfill.
She had to rise early, earlier even than the sun. She had to walk many a miles to get to school. Over hills and under trees. Down narrow paths and through raging rivers.
Exhausted she eventually arrived in class. The teacher would teach her about unteachable things. Hours upon hours a soothing soprano talked about trigonometry and astronomy and biochemistry and all the girl could concentrate on was sleep. Her head became heavier, her eyelids started fluttering and within a nick of time, she was sound asleep dreaming about triangles and stars and enzymes. The teacher of course, got very upset, raised the pointer, aimed for the little girl's fingers and whoosh! The girl shrieked awake and almost fell off her chair.
This lovely routine went on for a while until the teacher was tired of the girl being tired. She grabbed her by the ears and dragged her - through raging rivers and down narrow paths, under trees and over hills - all the way to her family, who was most disappointed about the lacking interest for education of their daughter.
'Mummy, mummy, I can explain!', the little girl cried.
'Go on, explain', the mother said.
'You know I sleep well at night', the girl pleaded. 'I sleep and sleep for hours-'
'And never do any work', the father interrupted.
'I can't help myself I'm just always so very tired. It must be a curse!'
The girl was quite happy with the explanation she came up with. Her parents weren't and had her clean the privy for two fortnights.
I can't go on like this, the little girl thought to herself. So she taught herself methods to stay awake. First she tried pinching herself. That worked right enough but she was quickly covered in pink scars from head to toe. Sunday came around and she was too ashamed to go to church looking like a beggar's child.
Secondly she thought some horrible thoughts whenever she got tired. She imagined mean Mr. Downey, the neighbour from across the street, chopping down her beloved apple tree. This unsettled her so much that she could not possibly fall asleep. But after a while she had to think of new things. She moved onto the third method after she came home crying because she thought about her grandmother suddenly dying.
The third method was the best method. She was really proud of it. Every morning she stood in front of the mirror and dipped her fingers into charcoal and goat cheese and drew two wide awake eyes on her lids. Unfortunately, her trick was revealed when the teacher asked her a question and the girl stared her straight in the eyes not saying a word, not even blinking.
Her parents were so embarrassed about this incident that they send their daughter off to the loony bin. The girl lived a happy life there. The madhouse was the perfect place for a day-long nap every day of the week. Unhappily, the doctors soon became aware of her extraordinary sleeping habit. They were most interested in the medical case of the sleeping girl that was always tired. And so they did what every reasonable medico would do. They put her in a lab and ran a great amount of tests. No sleep for 24 hours, no sleep for two weeks, switching between exercise and sleep every 30 minutes, drinking an ounce of whisky before going to sleep, wearing a pink dress to sleep and lastly: sleeping until she would sleep no more. The last test was never finished due to a careless cleaner who woke the girl after three months during which the quacks utterly forgot they were still running an experiment on the girl and to be exact, forgot about the girl too. As soon as they were reminded of her they were curious once again. How can a girl, who's hardly awake always be tired without being sick?
It didn't take long for a journalist to find out about this. Journalists seem to gravitate towards news stories like the girl towards bed. Each paper and every magazine wrote about the sleeping girl that is always tired. People were fascinated by her. They wrote stories and songs and every corner whispered: 'Have you heard about the girl? She is always sleeping and tired even more.'
Sooner or later the chitchat reached an electrician. Overly excited he contacted the girl's parents.
'Can you cure her?', the mother asked.
'No', he said. 'Definitely not. But I can help both you and the girl and the rest of the village.'
And this is how: the electrician found a way to turn the girl's snoring into electricity. He built a huge machine with many wires and buttons attached to it. It made a lot of beeping noises and frankly, looked quite scary. He put a medical mask over the girl's mouth and connected it to the machine. At the other end he plugged in a light bulb and ding! It lit up sure enough.
The parents were extremely happy about those circumstances for it meant they could charge people to buy their electricity. The village was extremely happy about this too for the village was so far out in the woods, that they've never been able to have electricity ever before.
And the girl?
The girl slept and slept and slept forevermore. And their was a smile on her lips for all eternity.