May 28, Taran's good-night story.

(narrated by Connor)
Taran likes to hear "scary stories" at bed time. Tonight he wanted me to tell him a story about "Jim and the Firetruck". I have no idea what he's talking about. He prompted me several times and I told him I didn't know that story but if he could tell me how it goes I could fill in the blanks. He said with a degree of earnestness "Fine! Fine, fine, fine!" And then he began this yarn...
This was when I was really little, and you and Mama and Tovi were killed for a little bit. (Yoiks!! Killed for a little bit?!) I got in the car and I drove to Target. I told the buyer there that I was all alone and could I have these things? And they buyer said yes, I could. So I got the blah, blah, blah, and the RED GARBAGE TRUCK! And then I drove the truck ... (inarticulate excited jabbering) ... and I lost all my pets, and I got to a house and there were some creatures (he really said "creatures") and I knocked on the door and asked if they were my pets and they said "Certainly NOT" but I took them anyway and I put them all in my pocket. And at next house there were also some creatures inside, and I knocked on the door and asked them if THEY were my pets, and they were! So I put them in my pocket too, but now I was pretty full so I went back to my house and put them in the fenced part. And then I walked around the neighborhood and at one house there was a big wolf in the house with a baby - but he didn't eat the baby because he wasn't a big BAD wolf, he was a good wolf... (couldn't make out what he was saying here, maybe continuing his walk around the neighborhood...) and the house was ALL GONE! And so I looked around and around but I couldn't find another pretty house, and I found a construction site and I asked the construction site if they would build me a new pretty house. And they said yes, and they started building my house but it takes a LONG time, and so a long time later I came back and they were all done and they were all gone. And so I have the house!
We think the business with all of us getting "killed for a little bit" is coming from Stuart Little since his original mouse family was killed when he was really little. I think he got the idea of the "good" wolf from me because I've occasionally turned the story of the 3 little pigs and the big bad wolf on it's head with the wolf getting harassed by the three bad pigs. No clue where he came up with the business with the pets and even calling them "creatures". I just struggled to keep from laughing out loud, and also tried to tone down his animation a bit since the night story time is supposed to be mellowing him out, not getting him spun up! His eyes were drifting around, practically unfocused towards the end of this story. I'm not 100% sure he wasn't actually rambling along in a waking dream, but at the end of the story he perked himself right up to ask me to tell a "scary story" now. I said that instead it was time to sing our May songs and he was out by the final verse.