I Was Going To Read Him Peter Pan, But It Seemed So Dull

-So I started making things up instead.

It began as most things do-a small lie meant to amuse a child. Really, every parent tells their children fantastic stories about the people in their town that aren't exactly rooted in truth. They don't? Um.

I never imagined there might be harm when I whispered to Danny that he mustn’t touch things at the drugstore because the owner is a pirate. From there, the lie grew a bit out of control. Why shouldn't the manager of the grocery store be a professional wrestler? What harm is there in telling a small child that the owner of the movie rental store is a spaceman? Who could have imagined that Danny would believe the people running the ice cream parlour are vampires? I mean, really if he thought about it he'd have realised the undead don't eat ice cream. But no, trusting child that he is, Danny takes everything I tell him at face value (though he's figured out that people don't really eat cat sandwiches).

I live in fear that one day Danny will innocently ask the bank teller whether she ever found her real family again after the alien abduction.