[ thirty seven ] across the stars
Putting the children to bed at night was one of the most difficult things they had to do. Since it was a two day retreat, the parents would stay in the church gym, in sleeping bags, while the children would sleep in a small building that the nuns lived in. It was vacant for the month because they were all travelling to Rome for a religious convention.
The building had six floors, one for each of the group leaders plus the bottom floor that had a livingroom, kitchen, and other things. And each floor had eight rooms, which was just about the number of children that attended.
Prudence separated the children into groups, with little Ashton clinging to her. "I want to be in the same room as you." The child begged.
But Prudence shook her head. "No, sweetie. You get your own room to sleep in."
Because all the children loved her, none of them gave her any trouble and she got them into bed easily. She was on the sixth floor of the building and she could hear the hosrsing around of the children on the floor below her.
It was Ashton's floor.
Sighing, she finally decided to go help him.
Prudence went down to the fifth floor to see children running around everywhere in the hallway. All the lights were on and everything was a disaster. She watched everything in awe until she finally spotted Ashton, struggling to walk because two little girls were clinging to his legs. "Ashton! Ashton! Ashton!" They shouted loudly in unison. Another child had its arms wrapped around his neck and clung onto his back.
Ashton's hazel eyes spotted the the grey-blue of Prudence's and he uttered, looking horrified, "Prudence, help me."
The sixteen year old ran to his side and took the small boy that hung onto his neck in her arms. The child wasn't heavy in reality, but her body was so weak by now that she quickly became tired. "I'll help you put them all to bed." She told Ashton with a warm smile.
.
.
.
.
They finished a half hour later, with Ashton complaining in surprise. "They wouldn't listen to me, but they were so quick to follow your instructions."
"That's because you're too nice to them." Prudence explained. "And that's not bad. Children should be treated nicely. But when it comes to serious matters, you need to show them its not okay to disobey. Putting them to bed is for their own good. You need to be firm." She smiled.
Ashton nodded, "Got it."
Patting him on the shoulder, she said to the boy wearing a red bandana around his head, "I'm going to go check on the other boys. You should get some rest."
And with that, she headed for the stairs that led to the next floor.
Sam was on the fourth floor and Prudence found everything was in order. Next was Luke's floor and finally Michael's, who both seemed to have managed nicely. The only one who had trouble with the children was Ashton.
Before returning to her room to sleep, she went down to the ground floor where she found a small library. Her eyes immediately spotted a book the wanted to read; The Holy Bible. She picked the leather bound book in her small hands and went to find a nice and quiet spot to read.
Prudence didn't realize how long she had been there reading when Ashton walked down onto the ground floor, holding the hand of a little girl who jumped up and down like she needed to go to the toilet. Ashton sighed in relief when he saw Prudence there. "Ah, Pru!" He said, "I'm so glad I found you. This little girl needs to use the toilet and we've gone up and down this entire building and I can't seem to find one."
