Lay still, Steven, and I’ll tell you a bedtime story.
I’ll tell you a bedtime story that’s not for all children.
It’s a very special story, that only special children will
understand. It’s a half-awake story, and it will be better
if you close you your eyes. It’s a story that takes place
in a dream, like other nightmares you have known.
It’s a dream that Alice has dreamed. You can dream
along with him. You can follow Alice down the staircase,
deep, down the stairs to the pit where he doesn’t want
to go, but he has to. If you go to sleep now, Steven,
you can go down the long and endless stairway and
sing sweet songs to Alice and free him. And if you
can’t get to sleep, Steven, and in the middle of the night
you get out of bed, when everything is quiet and the
trees are still and the birds are hiding from the dark,
you can lie down on your bedroom floor and press your
ear tightly to the boards. If you listen very carefully you
can hear Alice searching for a way out, forever
chasing rainbows.

Sleep tight, Steven. And have a good night.