Storytime with Freya

Last night, in a strange (and beautiful) house, Freya wanted to sleep in my bed and she wanted me to cuddle her before she fell asleep.

Me: Tell me a story, Freya.

Freya: You tell me a story.

Me: Okay.

Rather than recycle the stories I've told Matilda a billion times, I started a new one. This one was about a kitten who really, really wants to go outside and catch a mouse. One day, when no one is watching him, he slips out the window and explores the backyard.

Me: ...and then he climbed a tree, and do you know what he found?

Freya: What?

Me: A bird.

Pause.

Freya: Was it dead?

Me: No, it flew away into the sky.

Freya: (sounding disappointed) Oh. So it escaped?

Me: Yes.

The story continued, a squirrel also escaped, and a bug was eaten (at Freya's request). Finally, the little kitten found a mouse.

Me: ...and snuck up on it, and caught it in his paws.

Freya: Did he eat it?

Me: I don't know, what do you think?

Freya: He ate it. He always likes to eat mouses.

Would you like to hear another sweet and wholesome bedtime story, dear? How about a little murder, Eden always says games are no fun without murder, and doesn't she always tell the truth?

Eden is one of the friends with whom we are vacationing. She is eight. This vacation is awesome so far, just the right amount of mayhem, death and fictional animal violence. What will Bar Harbor bring today?