#4- The Night I Met a Sleepy Dinosaur

I just couldn't get to sleep. Mum had helped me do all the right things - brushed my teeth until they sparkled like stars, pulled on my favourite pyjamas, and even read me my favourite story about the magical forest. But here I was, wide awake as could be, listening to the ancient rainforest rustling outside my window.

I'm Jackson, and I live in a special place where time got a bit muddled up. Our house sits right on the edge of a magnificent rainforest that's been around since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Actually, they still do - roam the Earth, I mean. Right here in our backyard!

This particular night, the moon was as round as a beach ball, casting silver light through my window. That's when I heard it - a soft snuffling sound coming from our veggie patch. Now, I know what you're thinking. "Jackson, you silly! You shouldn't go outside at night!" But something about that sound made me wonderfully curious.

Tiptoeing past Mum's room (she was snoring quite loudly), I crept outside. There, amongst Dad's prized pumpkins, was the strangest sight I'd ever seen - a baby dinosaur about my size, wearing what looked like... were those polka-dot pyjamas made of leaves?

"Hi there," I whispered, trying not to startle the little fellow. "Can't sleep either, friend?"

The dinosaur jumped in surprise and then gave me a sheepish grin. "Nope," it replied in a squeaky voice. "I'm Donnie the Dryosaurus, and sleep's about as hard to catch as clouds tonight."

We sat there for a moment, two sleepless souls under the stars, until Donnie's eyes lit up like fireflies. "I've got a brilliant idea! Let's count the giant flies buzzing around the tall trees!"

It seemed like a good plan... until we realised the flies were making more noise than a marching band at midnight. "BZZZZZZ!" they went, zooming past our ears like tiny helicopters.

"Oh my!" I laughed, covering my ears. "That's not gonna help us sleep!"

Next, Donnie suggested we make the comfiest bed ever out of soft leaves. We gathered armfuls of them, piling them higher than a mountain of pillows. "This'll do the trick!" Donnie declared, flopping backwards onto the pile.

WHOOSH! The leaves exploded everywhere like confetti, and we found ourselves flat on our backs, giggling like we'd just heard the world's funniest joke. So much for that bright idea!

"Let's tire ourselves out with a game of hide and seek!" I suggested, thinking it was pretty clever.

Turns out, playing hide and seek with a dinosaur in the dark is harder than finding a penny in a swimming pool. Donnie tried hiding behind a skinny tree (I could see his tail sticking out both sides), and I attempted to squeeze behind a rock half my size. We were laughing so hard, we probably woke up every creature in the forest.

After our failed attempts at getting sleepy, we sat down on a fallen log, both feeling a bit disappointed. That's when I remembered what Mum always says about bedtime being a journey, not a race.

"Hey Donnie," I said, "maybe we're going about this all wrong. What if we tried doing things the proper way, like starting with brushing our teeth?"

Donnie's eyes widened. "You mean, there's a special order to it all?"

"Of course! First, we brush our teeth to get the food out," I explained, showing him how to use a stick of soft bark as a toothbrush (he was very careful with those sharp teeth of his).

"Then what?" he asked, getting excited about this new bedtime adventure.

"Well, you put on your pyjamas - though looks like you've sorted that already with your leaf outfit. Then comes my favourite part - story time!"

I told Donnie the tale of how the forest came to be, and he told me about his great-great-great-grandfather who once danced with a Tyrannosaurus Rex (though I think that might've been a tall tale).

"The last bit," I whispered, "is the most important. Mum taught me these special words that make you feel all warm and snuggly inside. Want to try them with me?"

Donnie nodded sleepily, his eyes already starting to droop.

Together, we whispered, "I am safe, I am loved, and I dream in the clouds above."

Before we knew it, Donnie was curled up like a cat in the sun, soft snores whistling through his scaly snout. I gave him a gentle pat goodnight and trudged back to my own bed, feeling peaceful as a butterfly on a warm breeze.

The next morning, I wondered if it had all been a dream. But there, in the veggie patch, was a perfect circle where someone had clearly been sleeping, and a single polka-dot leaf that looked suspiciously like it came from a pair of dinosaur pyjamas.

Now, whenever I can't sleep, I remember my midnight adventure with Donnie. I follow our special routine: teeth, pyjamas, story, and those magical words. And you know what? It works like a charm, every time.

Because sometimes the best way to fall asleep isn't by counting flies or making leaf beds - it's by following the path that leads to sweet dreams, one steady step at a time.

And somewhere out there in the ancient rainforest, I reckon there's a little dinosaur doing exactly the same thing.