esprit - Academic Scranton - The University of Scranton

The King of Naptime
CJ Libassi
Maximillian Beauregard stirred in the semi-darkness of the room.
The light that filtered in from the hallway was a source of particular
discomfort on this afternoon. Unable to shake his wakefulness, he sat up,
drew his knees to his chest, and let out a deep, but carefully quiet, breath.
As he loosened his embrace of his legs and let one hand fall to his side,
it was met, as if in anticipation, by another. He had thought Lyddie was
asleep and had hoped not to wake her prematurely. But, steeled by her
grasp, he regained a bit of the composure he had thought to be slowly
deserting him. He glanced out the tiny window to the clock across the
room. Almost time. He reached for the paper crown lying next to his
nap mat and placed it upon his head. Lyddie, sitting up, reached over and
straightened it on his head.
“Ready?” she asked.
He affirmed with a barely perceptible nod. Lyddie slipped out of
the playhouse, bringing her mat and blanket with her. Max glanced once
more through the small, plastic window to the door. Still no sign of Mr.
Duncan. He watched as Lyddie woke Smitty and Rick, and he fixed his
sights on the two until they had successfully hidden themselves on the
side of the big desk. As Lyddie settled back into her assigned nap spot, it
seemed to Max as if they all took a deep breath in unison. He moved to
the door of the playhouse and arrived just in time to see his teacher enter
the classroom. He quickly ducked and gave a tug on his ear to alert his
co-conspirators. From his stomach, he could see Lyddie get to her feet
and approach the teacher. Mr. Duncan greeted her politely and proceeded
toward his desk. She followed, asking a question and cornering him at his
desk.
“And so I guess—I guess what I wanted to know was that, um,
that if you counted all the sheep in a field and you—and you look at all
the tall ones and all the short ones and then all the tall ones went away
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