Ellie Searl
. . . they lived happily ever after. THE END."
Night, night, sweetie girl, sleep tight.”
“How do you know?”
“How do I know what?”
“That they liveded happily ever after.”
“Lived, not liveded. Well, they just did, like in all your other stories.”
“Bambi’s mommy didn’t - she got shotted by a bad hunter.”
“Shot, not got shotted.”
“And the poor little match girl got frozed.”
“Just say froze.”
“But they got dead! They didn’t lived happily ever after.”
“You mean they died, not got dead. And it's live happily ever after, not lived. Well, true, they didn’t, but that’s not how you say it.”
“What about the blinded mice? Their tails were cutted right off . . . with a carvenife . . . what’s a carvenife?”
“Blind mice, not blinded. Cut off. It was a carving knife, not carven - it's like the one we use to slice our roast beef with.”
“She chopted their tails off with her meat cutterer?”
“Chopped their tails off. . . with a meat cutter . . . oh my, . . . yes. . . . she did. “
“Why? Did she hated the mice? Were they bad?”
“You mean, did she hate the mice. I suppose she didn’t like the mice very much. They must have been very, very bad mice. Let’s tuck you in now.”
“Did they bleeded?”
“Did what bleeded? . . . bleed. . . . It’s bleed.”
“The mice tails.”
“Yes, they probably bled. Now go to sleep.”
“How much?”
“How much what?”
“Did they bled?”
“Bleed! It’s bleed. Probably only a little.”
“Did they got band-aids?”
“Get band-aids. Yes, yes, . . . ok, now it's got. They got band-aids. I imagine they got band-aids.”
“From who?”
“Whom! Say from whom. Their mother, I suppose. Now good night.”
“What about me?”
“What about you?”
“Are you going to chopted me up if I’m bad?”
“Chop. It’s . . . not . . . chopted! . . . No, honey, I’m not going to hurt you, ever.”
“Will I live happily ever after?”
“What? Oh, of course you will. You’ll be the happiest big girl in the world. Ok, that’s all for tonight.”
“You aren’t.”
“Hmm?”
“You aren’t.”
“Aren’t what?”
“Happy.”
“I’m not?
“No. You shout at Muffin and you tell me to wipe my face in a meany voice and you get mad at Daddy when he helpted you wrong . . . and . . . sometimes . . . you cry.”
“ Look . . .Sweetie . . . I love you and Daddy very much. . . but, every now and then, I might get upset . . . just a teeny bit. . . but that doesn’t mean I’m not happy. You’ll see someday. You really do need to go to sleep now. And it's not helpted me. It's helped.”
"Where does the prince and princess lived happily ever after?”
"Do live . . . I mean . . . did live . . .they lived . . . Oh, Lord, . . . ok . . . they did live in a castle.
“Did the prince helped the princess?”
“HELP! It’s HELP! . . . did help the princess. Yes, he . . . well, ok . . . here’s when you say helped. . . he helped her . . . all the time . . . mm mmm.”
“I hope they getted a dog.”
“Don't say getted! . . . Say got!. . . Yes, they got a very, very magnificent dog.”
“What kind of dog? Like Muffin?”
“Absolutely! Exactly like Muffin.”
“Read it again, Mommy.”
“Tomorrow night. It’s late. Now, goodnight."
I kissed her forehead and turned out the light, feeling like going to bed, too. Verb tenses was exhausting. Next time, I'll just stick with the story.
"Mommy?"
"Mm?"
“Does they ever got a cat?”
EVS 07/09