Casper's night out...

Casper and Priyanka are best friends. But they can meet only in the evenings. And that too when Priyanka sleeps late. One evening, they are having fun.

"I don't like the sun!!!", Casper sighed.

"But sun is fun!! You can go to the play-park, beach, garden,swimming pool...You can build castles and play and eat ice-creams", cried Priyanka.

"But the night is more fun. There are stars, moon and fairies and sparklers. You can see fire-works and not worry about humans seeing you and you can jump in chocolate fountains", responded Casper.

"All that sounds fun, too", acquiesced Priyanka.

"Why don't you stay up all night with me and we could go to places??", asked Casper.

"That's when I sleep", said Priyanka. 

Both of them became silent and were thinking when the same idea came to both of them. 

"How about tomorrow we both stay up all day and the day after we will stay up all night!!", both said together.

So, it was decided. Next day, Casper would come over to wake-up Priyanka and they would both have the sun-fun. 

Casper was waiting for Priyanka when she woke up the next day....

"Come!! Let's brush teeth!!", Priyanka said.

Bump. Bump. Bump. Casper was bumping into everything. He could not see in daylight. Priyanka told him to hold her hand and float. It was only a little better. Because, Priyanka could not stop him from bumping into the lights and the beams and the fans in the ceiling. Casper was already wondering if this was a good plan when Priyanka came up with an idea. 

"I need flash-light when I walk in the dark. We need a flash-light of darkness for you.", she said.

"But, that's silly", quipped Casper. "There is no such thing."

"But, there is!!", Priyanka said. 

Carefully she moved him into her shadow. That was much better. Now, Casper could see everything. He only needed to stay in her shadow.

They went to her school first. He met Elizabeth, Charlotte, Lulu, Amy and Layla. They all liked him. Miss Christine and Miss Ge also became his best friends.They all made shadows for Casper when they were playing in the play-park, when they were dancing and singing, when they were doing happy thursday yoga*. Miss Christine and Miss Ge also made the room darker so, Casper would see the movie. Casper had a lot of fun in the school.  They also had their lunch together. Priyanka helped Casper finish his lunch.

Then Mommy came to pick up Priyanka and Casper. It was nearly noon. And oh! No! The sun was over-head and there was no shadow for Casper. So, Mommy put Casper  and Priyanka in the stroller and put on the safety-belt. Then they went to the horse carousel. Mommy and Priyanka put Casper on the horse and round and round and round and round they went. Then they went to have the ice-cream. 

Casper had never eaten ice-cream before. He could not even see what it looks like. 

"I will hold your cone. You won't be able to see when the ice-cream is melting.", Priyanka offered. "Just try to eat the sweetest smelling soft thing you can feel with your mouth."

Casper tried to smell the ice-cream. He thought it smelled delicious. He moved closer and slllurppp...he licked!!!

"Peeeeewwwwww", Priyanka cried."You are licking me!!"

He tried again. Slurppp. Same thing happened. Finally Priyanka asked him to open his mouth and then she put ice-cream inside it. 

"Yummmyyyy" Casper loved ice-cream. They took 5 more ice-creams and then their tummy was full. 

Casper was getting very tired by then. 

"But we HAVE to see the beach in the day-time.", Priyanka told him earnestly. "You can sleep when we are driving there."

So, both Priyanka and Casper took a small nap when they were driving to the beach.

At the beach, they made the biggest sand castle ever. They saw star-fishes and collected shells. They swam in the waves. All the while, they took great care that Casper stayed in the shadows. They played in the beach till the sky started turning red.

As it started getting dark, Casper's mommy came to pick up Casper. They had one final candy floss. Casper left with a promise to come back tomorrow and Priyanka left with a promise to spend the next night having night-fun with Casper.

Baby Priyanka had such a fun-filled day. She was happy and tired. She thought of all the things she had not shown Casper and decided to show him all those things next time. With such pleasant thoughts and sweet dreams about all her best friends, she said her good night prayer, brushed her teeth and went to sleep.