It's a Secret

Sunday, S was riding around on her Winnie-the-Pooh car that she's much too big for now in the living room. She rolled into the kitchen. I reminded her that toys need to stay in the playroom and she said she was on her way out of town. She was going to visit Aunt J and Uncle K in St. Louis.

When she came back, I asked how her trip was.

"It was good. J & K had some toys they wanted to get rid of, so I brought them home."

"Well, that was nice of them."

"Yeah, and they made me a puzzle." She showed me her Melissa & Doug Rainforest Jigsaw Puzzle.

"Ooh, I like those colors!"

"Yep, they painted it themselves."She set it down and picked up my old Samsung. "And they made me this phone."

"Wow! They are really talented to be able to make that phone for you," I said, suppressing a smile. "So how are they doing?"

She made her concerned face. "Not very good. Both their doggies and their kitty died."

What? "Oh my. How sad. What happened?"

"Well, not really, they thought they were dead, but this guy took them, and then J & K found out and they wanted to kill him."

"What? I don't think that's a very good thing for them to do. I think it would be better for them to call the police."

She looked at me defiantly. "Well, this is my story."

"You're right. Sorry."

"But yeah, they did, they called the police and the firemen, and the police went to the guy's house and got the dogs back, but not the firemen, just the police. But the kitty was still dead."

(She threw a "Seriously?" in there, too, at some point. I really need a built-in recording device in my palm that I can turn on and off discreetly. I always miss the best phrases.)

"Well," I said, "I should probably call them and let them know how sorry I am that all that happened."

"No, you can't call because they are really sad. Nobody can go anywhere because they are all sad. And it's a secret. But I'm going to tell everyone in town." In town?

"I thought it was a secret?"

"It is, but just for you. Not for me."