The car’s brakes squealed in the garage above and the door slammed. The kitchen floor creaked as Carol walked across and crept downstairs. Benjamin shut his eyes in the dark bedroom and could have easily fallen asleep in seconds. She quietly tried to open his door without waking him. A sliver of sunlight revealed his closed eyelids.

“I’m awake,” he said, yawning.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s okay. I’ve been up for quite a while,” he said with a lazy grin.

She smiled back. “Aunt Louise was feeling a lot better last night.

She was still asleep when I left this morning, but she needs the rest.”

“Oh, that’s good news.” Benjamin sat up in his bed.

“I talked to your dad last night. He said he tried calling you but your voicemail picked right up every time.”

“Oh yeah. My battery died last night and I forgot to charge it. Sorry.”

“And everything else went okay while I was gone?”

“Yeah…mostly.”

His mom looked suspicious. “No surprise visits by that mangy little dog, I hope.”

“No. This time I went into his house.” That made Carol laugh.

Benjamin went up to the kitchen, where his mom cooked him waffles and eggs. He’d only been gone a couple of days, but he’d missed the taste of cooked food. After breakfast he helped her with some light housecleaning, then rested on the comfy brown couch in the living room watching TV. When Carol walked through the room later, to her surprise he was in a deep sleep, snoring loudly.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Paco the Brave

“SWEETIE?”

Benjamin opened his eyes to see his mom hovering over him. The news was on TV. “Oh, I guess I dozed off.” He rubbed his eyes as they tried to adjust to the light.

“I’ll say! What’ve you been doing these past couple of days? You’ve been asleep for nine hours! I was afraid to wake you in case you weren’t feeling well.” She sat by his feet at the far end of the couch.

“Not much. I played outside a lot.” He grinned. “Oh, and I was nearly choked to death by a giant python.”

She shook her head at his jokes. “You must have worn yourself out. I hope your sleeping pattern isn’t all messed up. It’s nearly dark.”

Benjamin launched himself off the couch and looked outside. The sun was setting on red and blue clouds behind the large hill west of the house. “I’m gonna go outside for a little while, okay?” Benjamin put his shoes on quickly.

“But–Well, okay. But don’t be too long. I’m all alone, you know. I need you to protect me from the big scary monsters while your dad’s not home.”