Alan climbed into the top bunk, careful not to bump his head. He stretched out onto the bed, and stacked his pillows beneath his shoulders. He had grown just enough in the past month that if he reached out his right arm, he could touch the ceiling.
And so, Alan picked the popcorn off the popcorn ceiling as he lulled himself to sleep.
After a few minutes of this, Alan looked at the tiny white pieces of powdery who-knows-what that surrounded him and the uneven patch he created. He wondered if he would get in trouble for this.
Maybe he could sleep in the bottom bunk and pretend it happened all by itself.
Alan began to swing his leg over the side of the bed when he heard a loud crash. He quickly climbed down the ladder. He threw a blanket over his head and pretended to be asleep.
A second, much louder, crash shook the room.
Alan pretended to wake up. He went to his bedroom door and listened. If he focused, he thought he could hear music. He could feel cold air flowing in from the threshold.
He started back toward the bed, before hearing a third crash.
Alan decided that finding out what was going on was worth getting into trouble.
He wrapped his blanket around his shoulder and flung his bedroom door open.
Most of the hallway was no longer there. He looked up at where the ceiling used to be and saw the giant lizard.