“Now I clasp my hands and chime,
Into your ears, I hope to climb,
And if your eyes see as I doze,
Look over me as mine now close”

***

“Now I lay here, warm and snug,
I hope and pray for your soft hug,
And if your hands are tied and tough,
A shoulder pat would be enough”

***

“Today is the day that I dare,
To ask you if you are even there,
So if you want my faith to grow,
Open your mouth and say hello”

“Hello.”

“What is this?”

“I am bringing the message of delight and destruction, for I am God. Your words have touched me, and I will hand your body purpose.”

“What? Why? You’re god, the god, you talk to me and you’re god? But you don’t understand, I don’t understand… But I don’t believe, don’t believe. In god. Are you trying to prove something? Are you trying to prove you exist just as I decided you don’t? Is this a test? Is this a thought? What is it? How to scream with my thoughts?”

“I think you have managed. You are screaming with your mouth as well. It would be most gracious to silence your sentiments.”

“Maybe that’s me? Am I talking to myself? Am I thinking so weirdly? Let’s see, let’s try something. My favorite color is…”

“…blue, but not as the sky, but as the sea before it becomes foamy.”

“My favorite animal is…”

“…a parrot, but not a colorful one, but a white one with a creamy crest.”

“My favorite food is…”

“… whatever my aunt makes because I love her.”

“Ha, I tricked you. You finished my thoughts perfectly because you are my thoughts. You just proved you don’t exist. You are a part of me, that’s all you are.”

“I finished your thoughts perfectly because I am God. My limbs float around you, my eyes see inside you. Beyond the body, into the very core of your existence.”

“Prove it.”

“Try this again and I shall answer with something widely different from what you anticipate. Something you cannot fathom, as mysterious as a phantom in the night.”

“My favorite color is…”

“…sombel, seen only for a split second after a star loses its light.”

“My favorite animal is…”

“…a vanidicusingens, a pet in my kingdom that you don’t deserve.”

“My favorite food is…”

“… whatever my aunt makes because I love her.”

“That last one was the same as before.”

“I am aware. This action had a purpose. Otherwise, you would claim your thoughts moved in nonsensical patterns on purpose. In your mind, this would make me a figment of your sleep-deprived imagination. I had to surprise you.”

“Are you really a god?”

“The God.”

“Are you?”

“I am.”

“Tell me how I will die then.”

“You will die along with this world.”

“I will survive till the end of the world?”

“You will not survive the end of the world.”

“Is it near?”

“Ask me why I opened my mouth.”

“Why did you answer me?”

“Because the end of the world is near.”

“You could’ve said yes.”

“Do you believe whole-heartedly, bone-crackingly, mind-numbingly, and soul-crushingly that I am your God?”

“Maybe. Yes.”

“Then, hello.”

“Shouldn’t it be heaven-o?”

“I am not afraid to speak its name.”

“Then name it three times.”

“Hell, hell, hell.”

“Now five times fast.”

“Hell – hell – hell – hell – hell.”

“Ha! God just obeyed my orders. And I am just a child, imagine what I’ll do later.”

“I do not obey. Our goals were accidentally aligned.”

“And what are they?”

“To allow your body to do something more than die.”

“My body? Like in the old times? Why? Is the end of the world really coming? And you really, really want to use me? Why?”

“Because you have been chosen.”

“Why?”

“Because I have chosen you.”

“Uh-huh, I get that. But why?”

“Because there are not that many people questioning God.”

“You want us to question you?”

“I want you to open your mind to blinding possibilities. Possibilities are questions in themselves.”

“I’m glad you like it because I have another question. Sorry, possibility. Is it possible for you to help me with a problem I have?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Then not a problem, just a question. Happy? Your body is endless, that’s how we’re taught. You float around us always, watching and listening. That’s why we pray.” 

“And sniffing and touching and tasting.”

“Right, yes. But they also say we should never trust only one of our senses. That’s why we have so many.”

“I sense you have quickly collected your scattered senses about the great and grim reality of talking to God.”

“It’s nothing new, I talk to God all the time. The only difference is that you responded. Anyway, back to my question…”

“You want me to appear to you in multiple ways?”

“Yes. Prove you’re real.”

“If I let your eyes soak me in, they would slip out of their sockets. If I let you sniff a whiff of my presence, you would collapse in delirium. If I let a drop of my sweat fall on your tongue, it would swell and drown.”

“You can sweat?”

“There is but one sense you could appreciate me with. The most primitive of senses. Now, you shall feel my fingers climbing up your shoulders. You shall feel my eyelash blinking against your cheek. You shall feel the hug you have long desired, but it might not be exactly what you think.”

“What is this? Make it stop. It’s not a hug. It’s not a touch. It’s something else. Let me go. Let me go, please. Let go, immediately. Please, yes, thank you. No more.”

“Do you believe in me with all your limbs and senses?”

“What more do you want?”

“We do not have much time left. I have handed you a special privilege. As the world crumbles and scatters across the void, every soul contained in billions of bodies will be released. This cannot be avoided. They will search for shelter and try to enter heaven. An overcrowded heaven is heaven no longer.”

“You want me to… sort the people into good and bad?”

“No. I am giving you a place in heaven. I will secure one spot for the most precious person in your short life.”

“I can pick one person who goes to heaven after they die?”

“You choose one soul to enter heaven immediately.”

“Right now?”

“Yes.”

“Their life will end?”

“Their life is futile and fleeting. They will exchange it for the eternity in heaven.”

“And what if I am…”

“…my favorite person? I know how your mind will form.”

“How? Can you read my mind too?”

“I have had this conversation before.”

“How does it end?”

“You do not need to know.”

“Will you rhyme now?”

“Only if I so prefer.”

“Do you?”

“It is but a moment’s spur.”

“Okay, how does it continue, then? Our conversation?”

“I share with you that my prophet cannot be so selfish as not to have anyone precious but themselves.”

“I knew you would say that.”

“Did you?”

“I have had this conversation before.”

“You have not.”

“So, I should name a person who… is the most precious to me… and you will kill them and bring them to heaven?”

“No. You will kill them, and I will bring them to heaven.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“But you are god. Sorry, God. It’s much easier for you. I’m just a child.”

“You are not a child.”

“What?”

“And you will do this. I will guide your limbs. I will give you strength.”

“Why not do it yourself then?”

“You will do it.”

“How do you know?”

“I have seen it all play out before. You should hurry.”

“Why?”

“People are easier to kill in their sleep.”

“You are ridiculous. I won’t kill anyone.”

“Everyone will die soon. You will decide who goes to heaven.”

“How can I decide?”

“I told you. Simply say yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“I heard yes.”

“I heard enough. I had a nice time talking to you, but I want you to stop now. Stop talking to me.”

“You cannot stop it.”

“I pray you stop answering me. What are you doing? What will you do now?”

“You cannot stop me.”

“I won’t kill my aunt. She raised me. She loves me. You can’t understand it because people only pretend to love you to go to heaven.”

“You cannot stop yourself.”

“I will not.”

“You are doing it right now.”

“I’m not. You’re crazy, shut up.”

“I will guide your limbs. I will stomp your steps.”

“I’m not listening. La-la-la-la. I can’t hear you, I can’t see you, you don’t exist.”

“I will hold your hands.”

“I’ll never answer you again.”

“Why are you pushing that pillow down?”

“My hands are not bloody.”

“They are feathery. Why did the pillow calm down?”

“Stop it. Shut up. I’ll shut up.”

“Lift it. See for yourself.”

“How did I end up here?”

“You were always here.”

“What have I done?”

“Your free will is as fragile as your power of will.”

“Wait. This isn’t bad. This is fine. I only did what God told me. I let God guide me. That’s what you’re supposed to do. This means she will go to heaven. Yes, you will pick her up with your many hands and lift her to heaven. I only need to wait…”

“You will wait.”

“A few more hours to wait and we’ll be in heaven together forever. I did what I had to do. She’ll understand, won’t she? She’ll be grateful. She always said I was such a good baby. Maybe she would go to heaven anyway, but maybe she wouldn’t. Now she will. She’ll understand. She will go to heaven.”

“She will not.”

“What?”

“There is no heaven.”

“What–what are you saying? This is someone else talking to me now. Not God. Not God. God would never say something like this. I believe God. I believe in God and in heaven. God promised. God said I was special, the vessel, the messenger of the end, the chooser of angels. God said it was the only way to bring her to heaven.”

“I also said I was God.”

“Now I clasp my hands and chime,

Into your ears, I hope to climb”

“I am only a messenger.”

“And if your eyes see as I doze,

Look over me as mine now close”

“I sent a whole-hearted, bone-cracking, mind-numbing, and soul-crushing message to every person in this world. Everyone heard it, including you.”

“Now I clasp my hands and pray,

Let my aunt see another day”

“A message so simple you can repeat it without twisting your limbs. ‘You have been chosen. The end of the world is here. If you kill your favorite person, they will go to heaven.’ Now, I wonder…”

“And if you can’t open her eyes,

I humbly pray for my demise”

“Would it be more sad if someone comes for you or if they don’t?”

“Now I clasp my hands and cry,

Don’t let my auntie say goodbye”

“Now, be serious. God never answers twice.”

---

Now I Lay You Down To Sleep © 2025. Ariana Dobrostal

Ariana Dobrostal is a big fan of mystery, fantasy, and horror. She enjoys writing dialogue the most. In high school, she was a member of the creative writing club. At the time, she won a prize in the Croatian Soundscript competition, which turned her story “The Shriek of Metal” into an audio story. In the recent past, she published stories in the SFeraKon collections.

The short story Now I Lay You Down To Sleep was originally published in the Morina kutija, no. 8 (veljača, 2025). You can download it for free from our site or Smashwords.

Ariana Dobrostal je veliki fan misterija, fantastike i horora. Najviše voli pisati dijaloge. U srednjoj školi, bila je član kreativnog spisateljskog kruga. U to vrijeme, osvojila je nagradu u natjecanju hrvatskog zvukopisa, čime je njena priča “Krik metala” dobila audio format. Recentno je objavila priče u sferakonskim zbirkama priča.

Priča Now I Lay You Down To Sleep objavljena je u online časopisu Morina kutija, br. 8 (veljača, 2025.). Časopis možete skinuti ovdje ili s platforme Smashwords.

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Urednički komentar: Vjerojatno mnogi od nas znaju kako je kad nam se pred počinak u glavi javljaju glasovi koji nam nude sumnje ili strahove. Ariana Dobrostal u ovoj nas kratkoj i jezovitoj priči vješto ispripovijedanoj isključivo kroz dijaloge pita: što kad bi jedan takav glas bio vrlo stvaran?