Siblings' Fairy Tale

         "Tell me a story!" Emilie's eyes lit up with her request.

         "I don't know any stories." Her older brother, Jeremy, hated to disappoint his sister, but he knew no stories. He wasn't a very creative person. He knew that she usually went to bed with a story, but with him as her babysitter, she was out of luck.

         "Please! You can make one up."

         Jeremy could never resist the look she gave him when she wanted something badly and was afraid that he would say no.

         "How about we come up with one together?" That way, he figured, he wouldn't have to do much imagining. She would do it all.

         She clapped her hands and squealed with delight.

         "You go first." Jeremy nodded his head at her and waited.

         "Once upon a time." Her tone became matter-of-fact and so knowledgeable that he had to stifle a laugh.

         "Why is is once upon a time? Why not yesterday?" When his sister began saying things in her grown-up certain tone, it was amusing to Jeremy to question her.

         "Because, Jeremy, every story begins once upon a time. You know that. You've read me my stories." She ceased to look like a six-year-old and began looking like an irked teacher. Jeremy widened his eyes as if this were news to him.

         "Oh, I'm so sorry. You're right. Please continue."

         "No. It's your turn. I started it. Once upon a time, what? Obviously it starts with the hero, but what's he doing?"

         Jeremy hid a groan. "He was washing his pet."

         Emilie just looked at him. "He was washing his pet? What story starts with a hero washing his pet?"

         "Well, it's your job to make it interesting by telling me what his pet was." He gave her that look that older brothers give their younger sisters when they want to convince them that it's their job to fix whatever they have messed up.

         "Oh. Right. It was a pet - dragon!"

         "Who has a dragon for a pet?" Sometimes Jeremy wondered about his sister.

         "Well, he's doing something boring like washing his pet; it has to be a cool pet, and nothing else is as cool as a pet dragon." Jeremy had to admit that her logic seemed sound.

         "Okay. So he was washing his pet - "

         "What was his pet's name?" Emilie's voice was half curious and half challenging.

         Every time they played this game, Jeremy's creativity surged without his permission.

         "Grrrrangenwalford." He growled out the name almost before she had finished her question. "And that has four Rs - that's important."

         "Why is that important?"

         "Because you have to growl out the four Rs like I did to pronounce it correctly."

         The next five minutes were spent teaching Emilie how to growl Grrrrangenwalford until she collapsed against her headboard in giggles. Jeremy continued the story.

         "Well, he was washing his pet dragon when he heard someone screaming."

         "Who was screaming?"

         "Shh! I'm getting there. It wasn't just any someone that was screaming; it was a lady someone. And she was screaming - "

         "Help! I'm a damsel in distress!"

         Jeremy nodded his agreement and thanks.

         "Well, our hero - let's call him Zeke - " Jeremy waited until Emilie nodded her approval. "Well, he loved damsels in distress, so he and Grrrrangenwalford raced off toward the sound."

         "But wait! He was washing Grrrrangenwalford. Did he finish or did they run off with soap suds dripping everywhere? Mommy yelled at me for that last week."

         "I'm sorry. Zeke rinsed Grrrrangenwalford off and then they raced off toward the sound."

         "That's better. It's more realistic. He wouldn't want to upset his mommy."

         Jeremy gravely agreed with his sister before she continued the story. "After multiple sets of directions -"

         "Whoa! Why does he need directions? And why multiple sets?"

         Emilie patted his hand in consolation. "Because men always get lost. Zeke was just smart enough to ask for directions. And there are lots of damsels in distress that call for help. So whenever Zeke would stop and ask for directions, people couldn't agree about which damsel in distress he heard."

         "Okay, fine. So Zeke finds the damsel in distress. Why is she in distress?"

         "She needs a needle."

         "A needle?"

         "Yes, like a needle to sew with."

         "Okay, so Zeke went into the forest - "

         "Where did the forest come from?"

         "There's always a forest near damsels in distress in these stories." The fact that Jeremy was now telling Emilie how these stories were supposed to go did not escape his notice. Every time Emilie conned him into telling her a story, he was surprised at how much he knew.

         "Oh."

         "So Zeke went into the forest and found a pointy thorn, and he crafted it into a needle and brought it back to the damsel in distress, and she loved it. It worked perfectly."

         "She was so happy that she made tea for him."

         "And she offered her pet donkey to Grrrrangenwalford."

         "Who was too polite to accept!"

         "Though he sat drooling the rest of the visit." Emilie shot him a dirty look, but he enjoyed this part. "And the tea made him sick, so he left as soon as he could."

         "Jeremy! This is not a good story!"

         "Just wait; it gets better. It's almost over. He rode home on Grrrrangenwalford and vowed to never again help a damsel in distress."

         Emilie's dark gaze didn't waver for a full minute.

         "And they lived happily ever after."

         "How did they live happily ever after? That's a horrible ending, Jeremy! You're bad at this!"

         Jeremy began tucking the covers around his sister's little body and kissed her forehead before explaining: "because all stories end that way. Good night, Emilie. Sleep well. I love you."