Welcome to Sleep Stories with Steph,
Your go-to podcast that offers you a calm and relaxing transition into a great night's sleep.
It is time to relax and fully let go.
There is nothing you need to be doing now,
And nowhere you need to go.
Close your eyes and feel yourself sink into the support beneath you and let all the worries of the day drift away.
This is your time and your space.
Take a deep breath in through your nose and let it out with a long sigh.
There is nothing you need to be doing now,
And nowhere you need to go.
Happy listening.
Chapter 5 Nancy sprang to her feet.
She dashed out of the room and went clattering down the stairs.
Left alone,
Pollyanna went back to her picture as she mentally designated the beautiful view from the window.
After a time,
She touched the sash tentatively.
It seemed as if she could no longer endure the stifling heat.
To her joy,
The sash moved under her fingers and the next moment the window was wide open and Pollyanna was leaning far out,
Drinking in the fresh,
Sweet air.
Then she ran to the other window.
That too soon flew up under her eager hands.
A big fly swept past her nose and buzzed noisily about the room.
Then another came and another,
But Pollyanna paid no heed.
She had made a wonderful discovery.
Against this window,
A huge tree flung great branches.
To Pollyanna,
They looked just like arms outstretched,
Inviting her in.
I believe I can do it,
She chuckled,
And the next moment she climbed nimbly to the window ledge.
From there,
It was an easy matter to step to the nearest tree branch,
And clinging like a monkey,
She swung herself from limb to limb until the lowest branch was reached.
The drop to the ground was,
Even for Pollyanna who was used to climbing trees,
A little fearsome.
She took it,
However,
With baited breath,
Swinging from her strong little arms and landing on all fours in the soft grass.
Then she picked herself up and looked eagerly about.
She was at the back of the house.
Before her lay a garden in which a bent old man was working.
Beyond the garden,
A little path through an open field led up a steep hill,
And at the top,
A lone pine tree stood on guard beside the huge rock.
To Pollyanna,
At that moment,
There seemed to be just one place in the world worth being in at the top of that big rock.
With a run and a skilful turn,
She skipped by the bent old man,
Threaded her way between the orderly rows of green growing things,
And,
A little out of breath,
Reached the path that ran through the open field.
Determinedly she began to climb.
Already however,
She was thinking what a long,
Long way off that rock must be,
When back at the window it had looked so near.
Fifteen minutes later,
The great clock in the hallway of the Harrington Homestead struck six.
At precisely the last stroke,
Nancy sounded the bell for supper.
One,
Two,
Three minutes passed.
Miss Polly frowned and tapped the floor with her slipper.
A little jerkily she rose to her feet,
Went into the hall,
And looked upstairs,
Plainly impatient.
For a minute she listened intently,
Then she turned and swept into the dining room.
"'Nancy,
' she said with decision,
As soon as the little serving-maid appeared,
"'my niece is late.
No,
You need not call her.
' "'I told her what time supper was,
And now she will have to suffer the consequences.
She may as well begin at once to learn to be punctual.
When she comes down,
She may have bread and milk in the kitchen.
' "'Yes,
Ma'am,
' said Nancy.
It was as well perhaps Miss Polly did not happen to be looking at Nancy's face just then.
At the earliest possible moment after supper,
Nancy crept up the back stairs and thence to the attic room.
"'Bread and milk,
Indeed.
And when the poor lamb ain't only just cried herself to sleep,
' she was muttering fiercely as she softly pushed open the door.
The next moment she gave a frightened cry.
"'Where are you?
Where have you gone?
Where have you gone?
' She looked in the closet,
Under the bed,
And even in the trunk and down the water pitcher.
Then she flew downstairs and out to old Tom in the garden.
"'Mr.
Tom!
Mr.
Tom!
That blessed child's gone!
' she wailed.
"'She's vanished right up into heaven.
Where's she come from,
Poor lamb?
And me told to give her bread and milk in the kitchen.
Oh,
What's eating angel food this minute?
I'll warrant,
I'll warrant!
' The old man straightened up.
"'Gone?
Heaven?
' he repeated stupidly,
Unconsciously sweeping the brilliant sunset sky with his gaze.
Then he stopped,
Stared a moment intently,
And turned with a slow grin.
"'Well,
Nancy,
It do look as if she tried to get as nigh heaven as she could,
And that's a fact,
' he agreed.
He pointed with a crooked finger to where sharply outlined against the reddening sky,
A slender wind-blown figure was poised on top of a huge rock.
"'Well,
She ain't going to heaven that way tonight,
Not if I has my say,
' declared Nancy doggedly.
"'If that mistress asks,
Tell her I ain't forgetting the dishes,
But I've gone on a stroll.
' She flung back over her shoulder as she sped towards the path that led through the open field up to the huge rock upon which Pollyanna stood.
