Impromptu Story

J was reading Not So Rotten from her favorite Rotten Ralph series one afternoon, when I commented that Ralph reminds me of difficult kids. J agreed and went on to add that Sarah (Ralph's owner) was like a parent or like a very good child like herself.

Maybe a parent with a child like Rotten Ralph wrote the stories to teach them how to be good I guessed as I smiled. J is very proud of being a "good kid" and will call attention to it whenever she can. When she said she could make up a story too with animal characters, I challenged her to make up one about me where I was an animal.

"What kind of animal would I be ?" I asked. I was hoping she would say a dolphin. Recently for a class exercise she had written that her imaginary pet was a blue dolphin who lived in the swimming pool. So I was guessing dolphins were her favorite animal.

"You would be a puppy" she replied.

"What would my name be ?" I asked "Arfy" she said

"So tell me a story about Arfy" I pressed eager to see what she would come up with.

"Well, Arfy is a little puppy who really wants to go to school but cannot because she is too young" J says at first. Then she changes her mind and has Arfy start at school. "When Arfy goes to school she is sad because she has no friends. The other dogs bite her and snatch away her food at the cafeteria. Their teacher gives all the other puppies except Arfy a write-up"

"What happens to Arfy after that ?" I ask "She comes home and her owner is very happy. She buys Arfy a big bag of doggy treats for being good at school. But Arfy is still very lonely. She does not have any friends. Then she meets a friend from long ago and she is very happy" J concludes her story.

"Who is Arfy's owner ?" I ask "I am" J replies.

I wondered what all that really meant. J's impromptu story gave me plenty of food for thought. She had made me the classic under-dog and cast herself in the role of the savior.