The Cat in the Hat Fears the Bat

"Mama! Mama!"

"Wha?" I mumbled, half asleep. "Joseph? What's wrong, baby?"

"The Cat in the Hat is in my room?"

"What?"

"The Cat in the Hat," he dropped his voice to a whisper, "is in my room."

"Oh my gosh! Chad! Chad!" I kicked my sleeping husband, "Wake up!"

"What's going on?"

"The Cat in the Hat is in Joseph's room!"

"Huh?"

"The Cat," I repeated slowly, "in the Hat is in Joseph's room."

"It's just a bad dream."

"But what if it's not?"

"Are you serious?"

"Go check."

"Seriously."

"Yes, you irritating man! Go check. What if the Cat is still in there."

"You do realize we're talking about a giant talking cat, right?"

"Daddy! Go check!"

"You two are ridiculous."

"Take the bat, in case there's a Cat."

"Oh my God."

"Go!" I hissed.

"This is absolutely ridiculous. I'm not happy."

"Just go." I cuddled Joseph in my arms. "It's okay, baby. Daddy's going to make sure the Cat isn't there."

"Can I sleep with you?"

"Of course! Snuggle down with me and we'll wait for Daddy to get back."

"I'm back."

"Did you see the Cat?"

"Interestingly enough," he paused, "no."

"Oh. Well. That's good. Better safe than sorry, right?"

"Hm."

"Are you rolling your eyes?"

"Hm."

"Daddy! I saw him."

"I'm sure you did. Your mother, however...ow! What was that for?"

"Go to sleep, you brat."

"Good night, Mama. I'm glad there's no Cat."

"Me too, baby. Me too."

This post was inspired by the writing prompt from The Red Dress Club - a writing group that I've recently joined. This week's prompt was to use only dialogue in a post. While I cheated just a bit, I had fun writing this out. Thank you Taming Insanity for triggering the memory of this event with your post Monsters in the Closet.  Because, yes, this did happen. And no, Chad was not amused. And yes, I still think the Cat in the Hat visited Joseph's room.