Giancarlo's brother freaked him out by telling him there were aliens outside the window. He remembers creeping into his parents' bed and being soothed by his mother's lullabies. His personal story simply and quietly reminds us how much a child treasures and remembers the warmth of a parent's love. Giancarlo is part of Curie Youth Radio, a radio project at Curie High School on Chicago's Southwest Side. This piece was broadcast on April 14, 2005, on EIght Forty-Eight, a news magazine show on Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ). Transcript included below: "I gazed at the ceiling, which was divided into light and darkness. The outside lights shone through the curtains, creating a shadow of my bed on the wall. I didn't want to look out the window, because then I would see the aliens that my brother would freak me out about. I coiled onto the sheets, but that didn't help. So I crept into your room, the floor creaking with every step. I slithered onto your bed between you and my dad. The warmth you released engulfed me. I poked you and whispered into your ear, "Ma, despiertate." But you didn't wake up. I dragged myself back to my room. My eyes were heavy, but my nerves didn't let me sleep. That's when you came. You moved me over and lay beside me. You caressed my head and began your lullaby: my private music." Piece ends with "A La Nanita Nana," by Tish Hinojosa, from "Lullaby: A Collection," 1994.

Giancarlo's brother freaked him out by telling him there were aliens outside the window. He remembers creeping into his parents' bed and being soothed by his mother's lullabies. His personal story simply and quietly reminds us how much a child treasures and remembers the warmth of a parent's love. Giancarlo is part of Curie Youth Radio, a radio project at Curie High School on Chicago's Southwest Side. This piece was broadcast on April 14, 2005, on EIght Forty-Eight, a news magazine show on Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ). Transcript included below: "I gazed at the ceiling, which was divided into light and darkness. The outside lights shone through the curtains, creating a shadow of my bed on the wall. I didn't want to look out the window, because then I would see the aliens that my brother would freak me out about. I coiled onto the sheets, but that didn't help. So I crept into your room, the floor creaking with every step. I slithered onto your bed between you and my dad. The warmth you released engulfed me. I poked you and whispered into your ear, "Ma, despiertate." But you didn't wake up. I dragged myself back to my room. My eyes were heavy, but my nerves didn't let me sleep. That's when you came. You moved me over and lay beside me. You caressed my head and began your lullaby: my private music." Piece ends with "A La Nanita Nana," by Tish Hinojosa, from "Lullaby: A Collection," 1994.