Children's Stories

Zombies Don't Cuddle

Five-year-old Javier clung to his mother with teary eyes. "I don't want to sleep by myself. The zombies will get me!"

His mom glanced at his dad standing at the door and whispered in Javier's ear, "Now Javie, there is no such thing as zombies, and daddy shouldn't have been playing that video game while you were still up." She pulled herself out of Javier's arms and tucked him gently under the covers. "Even if they were real, zombies really just want to be cuddled," she smiled, then gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Okay," Javier's shaky voice whimpered from under the blanket. "Good night, mommy. Good night, daddy."

His mom and dad both wished him a good night and shut the door behind them. He could hear mom gently scolding dad about the game as they walked down the hallway. With a sigh Javier moved further under the blankets and closed his eyes. He wished someone would stay with him to protect him from zombies, even if they weren't real.

Just as he began to drift off to sleep, a muffled thump near his bed chased away any thought of closing his eyes. Carefully, he peeked out of his blankets, keeping them close to his chin in case he needed to retreat back under them.

Fuzzy ears peeked out above the foot of the bed. Javier huddled at the other end with his blankets bunched up to his nose. The ears grew longer until a tuft of blue hair appeared between them. They were followed by two bright big eyes, a twitchy nose, and then big white buck teeth.

"Hello," said the fuzzy bunny creature. "Who are you?"

Javier pushed his blankets back down below his chin. "My name is Javier. What are you?"

My name is Kwiz, and I'm your cuddle bunny."

"My cuddle bunny?"

"Yes, you asked for me and here I am!"

I didn't ask for a cuddle bunny."

"Sure you did. You asked for someone to keep you safe from zombies." The bunny hopped onto the bed. "That's what cuddle bunnies do, watch over little kids at night and protect them from zombies."

"But mom said there's no such thing as zombies."

"Oh, yes, they're real," The cuddle bunny put a furry paw on Javier's head. "So you asked for me just in time."

"I did?" Javier's eyes widened in fear.

"Yup. There's zombies outside your window right now. Take a look."

Javier crawled out of bed and tiptoed to the window. He peered out to see two scary zombies stomping around the petunias in his mother's garden. They had cucumber green and their hair looked like each one had a black octopus stuck to their heads. Chicken-egg-sized eyes stared blankly ahead as they walked back and forth, amazingly not stepping on a single plant. Their tattered clothes looked two sizes too small for them.

"What do they want?" Javier asked fearfully.

"Well, zombies aren't much fun to play with, so they don't have many friends. They get lonely and look for children to turn into zombies and become playmates."

Just as the bunny said this, one zombie waddled over to the other and, without any reason, bopped his partner over the head. The second zombie made a wailing noise and began to chase the first one.

"I don't want to play with them."

"No, you wouldn't. They don't play nicely with others at all, and they definitely don't like to cuddle. But they will go away in the morning, and for tonight I will watch over you."

"OK," Javier yawned and returned to bed. He didn't feel like sleeping at first, and so his cuddle bunny snuggled next to him under the blanket. Feeling safe, Javier fell asleep with his cheek touching the bunny's soft blue fur.

In the morning, Javier woke up to find a stuffed blue bunny lying at the foot of his bed. At first, he thought he had dreamed his encounter with the cuddle bunny and the zombies. But just as he raised his hands to wipe the sleep from his eyes, he thought he saw the stuffed animal wink. He reached for the bunny and hugged it close. Its eyes twinkled and a soft voice whispered in his ear, "I'm your cuddle bunny and I'll love you forever,"

Javier replied in just as soft a whisper, "And I hope I don't turn into a zombie. I want to always play nicely with my friends."