...story break...

Two weeks ago now, of an evening, Henri and I were deep in our nighttime routine. 

Teeth brushed...pajamas on...time for a cuddle and read session.

I'd finished the book already, and he was...as ever...begging and pleading and crocodile-crying for

just one more.

But motherhood, even in the softness, requires a firm foundation...

and having told him before we sat down that we only had time to read one story, I had to toe the line.

Oh!  Then the tears sprang forth in earnest!

(No pain cuts deeper than a solitary No...at least, not to this 5-year-old!)

Exhausted beyond both ability to read, and ability to bear the tears...I chose a workaround...
"Why don't I tell you a story, instead?"

"Yes. Yes. Yes!!!"

And so I did.

And then, it too, ended.

But it hadn't quite gone midnight yet, and Henri...always one to push the boundaries...

refused to simply comply with the demands of bedtime. 

Instead, he declared that it was now time for him to tell me a story.

I asked him to wait, a moment, while I groped about for my misplaced phone.  Hit record, and captured the magic of Henri's First Story:

And now, rather than finishing my morning work, I've sat listening and transcribing.

(Stories...written, told...lived...are meant to be shared, afterall...)

So here, for all of us to enjoy, is Henri's story.

Purple the Raccoon

Long, long, long ago...

one raccoon go to a house and him go in the house.

Three chipmunks decorating with Halloween stuff.  

Raccoon say "Hi! I am Purple." 

And chipmunks say "Hi! I am Bebe.  I am Bo. I am Henri."

"Okay, I have a fluffy tail and I want berries!"

"Ooh! Us have lots of those! What kinds are you want?"

"I want those red ones. Oh, no. 

Those red ones and blue ones and black ones.

I want all the berries. I want all the berries!"

"Okay.  Which size?"

"Each one of them!"

"Okay...doot...doot...doot...doot...here is them!"

"Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum!  Burp! Okay, goodbye Henri and Bebe and Bo."

Raccoon leave and him go away.