Last week, Tarana accidentally left the door open, and our old, fat, yellow, completely necessary and beloved dog, Opus, snuck out of the house in search of adventure. Tarana says (and demonstrates) that he must have sneakily tip-toed behind the couch as she and Kyle were watching TV. What a stinker, right?!
Kyle ran all around the neighborhood searching for Opus. We were so worried. I was at work, so all I could do was post a frantic facebook status. Minutes later, my cousin did an internet search and found Opus' photo on our city's local list of recently impounded animals. By that time, the pound had already scanned Opus for his microchip and called Kyle. Thank goodness the city made us get that microchip against our will!
Well, Tarana is very fond of Opus. When Kyle told her they would be able to get Opus out of "jail" the next day, she said she wanted him to stay there. She was adamant with both of us that she would not be going to get Opus out of jail. She obviously felt that her loyal friend, a dear loved one, had abandoned her, as she has been abandoned by others before. She was angry!
So I told her a story. Clearly, there must have been a bad bear roaming the neighborhood, threatening our family. The bear must have tried to come in our house, and Opus had to run it off. Opus succeeded in protecting our family, because we never did see that bear, but not without a fight. Unfortunately, a police officer drove by and saw the epic battle between that bad bear and our beloved Opus. And so both animals were arrested and taken to jail. It was just a misunderstanding. Since both animals were fighting, the police thought they were both bad.
Poor Opus, taking the fall for protecting our family.
When she and Kyle went to bail Opus out the next day, Opus was thrilled to see them.
Walking out of the pound, Tarana looked at Kyle and said, "Where bear? Oh yeh. In jail." She's a believer, y'all.
After Opus was home, and when I came home from work, Tarana greeted me, enthusiastically waving this photo in her hand. "Look, mom!," she said. "Your princess and your bear!" This is because she knows how often we refer to Opus as our protector bear, and we always tell her that she is our precious, beautiful princess. Later, Tarana wanted to display the photo in the house. She taped it up on the map in my bedroom, right below India. She told Kyle she wanted it "on the wall so mom can see every morning." She knows I love her. And she knows how much time I spend looking at that map!
So my friends, I stand beside one of my favorite quotes, which says, "Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed."
Fairy tales are absolutely necessary. I will, therefore, make up fairy tales to explain anything and everything until the day I die. :)
Great story!
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