Siena had a nightmare last night. Around 12:30 she woke up crying, and came into our room saying that she had dropped Aishaniya down the side of her bed and couldn’t reach her. I thought, no problem, she’s on the floor, but it’s reasonably dark so Siena probably didn’t see her. We’ll just go in, find her, and get Siena tucked back into bed.

I had forgotten that the doll was out on the porch, where she had been left during dinner.

We get into Siena’s room, she climbs back in bed, crying, and points to the wall, saying, “She’s right down there and I can’t get her.” Siena’s bed is a trundle bed with a wood frame that extends around the entire bed up to the top of the mattress. So there is the wall, a gap about the thickness of my fingers (because of the baseboard at the floor), and then the wood of the bed frame. “She’s down there!”

I explain to Siena that there is no way Aishaniya could fit down there, and I show her that I can’t even get my hand down there. Then I tell her to climb into bed while I go find the doll for her.

Finally I remember the doll is on the porch, retrieve it, and bring it back to Siena. She finally calms down once she realizes what had happened.

This is not the nightmare I had expected, given how she often says she’s scared of monsters (which we don’t have) or mice in the walls (which we do). Dropping the doll between the bed and the wall? Unexpected, which I guess is exactly how most nightmares play out.