Themes: Merlion (Lion + Fish hybrid), living pajamas/costume, suiting, comfort

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[Singapore 60th National Day Aug 9th Special]
Being an energetic child who loved to wear animal-themed onesie pajamas to sleep, my parents would buy me one new animal pajamas every half a year. As the day that I was getting the new pajamas was nearing, I overheard my parents talking about a lion costume pajamas. I imagined myself sleeping in a lion pajamas, my face wrapped up in the thick fluffy mane and the fabric tail dangling behind ending with a paintbrush-like tail. Just the passing thought of being comfortable and fully clothed in fuzzy fleece fabric made me even more enthusiastic to receive my new pajamas.

When the day finally arrived, I was ready to sleep in my thin cotton shirt and shorts, prepared to wear the new pajamas over my normal sleeping clothes. I saw my parents carrying a plastic package into my room with a sticker on it that said “LION” in bold. They placed my new outfit on the nightstand by my bedside before kissing me goodnight and switching off the light. Only the calming sky-blue glow of my nightlight remained lit. Sitting at the edge of my bed, I flipped the plastic packaging over and my eyes were blinking in utter disbelief.

It was not a typical set of lion onesie pajamas. The word now said “MERLION,” something I might have overlooked earlier as I had expected a lion outfit for the past few weeks, blindsided by my excited thoughts. Unlike the previous sets of pajamas I had, this came in two separate pieces. One was a top half of a lion jacket of sorts with paws sewn onto the ends of each sleeve, the hood of it a thick, fluffy mane with a cartoony lion face, just as I had imagined. The other half, however, was something that even my imaginative mind could not cook up. It was a bluish fish tail with a fuzzy tunnel on the inside, appearing like a small sleeping bag for my legs to slip into only.

A wave of drowsiness swept over my body and I yawned, too tired to tell my parents about the outfit and deciding it would be best to discuss this the next morning. I slipped my hands into each sleeve, wiggling my fingers into each paw digit before pulling the jacket over my body. From behind, I raised the hood over my head to complete the lion part of the look. Staring at the fish tail half, I sighed while I pulled the fish tail up to my waist where the lion half ended. I was now in the pajamas of a lion-fish hybrid, lying in bed comfortably and shifting my legs around in the tail portion of the outfit as I slowly fell asleep.

Without warning, the seams between the top and bottom halves of the outfit vibrated and fused together, turning into a one-piece merlion suit, startling me awake. I sat up in panic, gasping for breath as I searched for the original gap between the original two parts of the outfit, finding no means of exit from it anymore. I tried to tug the hood down but it would not budge, as if it had tightened to swaddle my face. “Woah there! Don’t panic. I’m only making you comfier!” A calming voice reassured from the hood of the pajamas where my head should be.

“Are you alive?”

“Yes! I’m Merlin, the magical merlion pajamas at your service. Take a deep breath and lie back onto the bed. You’ll sleep better with me on.”

With a few cycles of calm breathing, I relaxed and let loose, staring at the ceiling and wondering what Merlin was going to do. The living merlion pajamas repositioned my arms such that I was hugging myself and the tail portion of the pajamas thickened, now feeling like a pillow around both my legs. “There. Now, you may have a good night’s rest. Sweet dreams!” “Thank you, Merlin. I’ll treasure you forever and wear you more in future.” I mumbled before I fell into a deep sleep, everything except my face cosily hugged by the soft, fleecy fabric.