once upon a time – part one

Ryan loves stories. He’s a bright kid, yes but even the brightest 3 year old is unable to comprehend words and sentences that form stories, so that means he loves other people reading him stories. I don’t remember when his parents started reading him bedtime stories, but it’s an almost everyday thing now where he would insist a story with his Milo before drifting off to sleep. Sometimes he would try to squeeze two or more stories from you, but I am usually too smart to fall for that, hah!

You see, I love stories as well. I’m sure my mother told us sisters stories when we were younger, but somehow I don’t remember them. Maybe the memories will pop up later, as they often do.

Like I said, I love stories. I just don’t like telling them. To be precise, I don’t like telling stories to kids. It is not easy (for me) to think of tales that are safe and not scary, punctuated with morals, ethics and good values. Sure, I love to tell stories to my friends and have them tell it to me in return, but I doubt Ryan nor his parents would appreciate stories such as, “My friend was driving along the highway, and suddenly he saw a female with long hair and white dress standing by the side of the road…”

Once or twice a week I’d tell Ryan a bedtime story, usually when his parents are busy, sick or just when I find myself with enough patience and goodwill to wield a tale or two. The conversation goes like this:

“Ah yi, can you tell me a story please?”
“Okay. What story do you want?”
“Uhmm…. I want…. a story about… shark!”
“Okay… shark.. hmmm. Once upon a time….”
(Ryan grabs his Milo, jumps into bed, prepares to suckle from the bottle and waits expectantly)

The last two stories I told him had sharks for leading characters, as per his request. The first one was about Johnny The Shark who lives alone in a nice house in the ocean. Johnny The Shark has many friends — fish, octopus, starfish, seahorse… Johnny The Shark also happens to be a vegetarian. That means he doesn’t eat meat or fish; he only eats fruits and vegetables. That is why he has so many fish friends, because he doesn’t eat them for dinner.

One day, Johnny The Shark decides to visit his parents, who live on the other side of the ocean. He packed a basket filled with fruits and vegetables for his parents, and went on his way. Ding dong! he rang the doorbell. His mother opened the door and was glad to see him! They hugged, and Mama Shark called out to Papa Shark who was upstairs. Papa Shark was also very happy to see his son. Johnny The Shark then presented his gift basket filled with fruits and vegetables to his parents. Mama Shark looked at it and said, “Uhmmm.. but son, we are sharks. We eat meat and fish. We do not eat fruits and vegetables.” Johnny The Shark replied, “Yes mom, but I am a vegetarian! That means I do not eat meat or fish! My best friend is a fish and I do not want to eat him. Instead, I eat apples, oranges, broccoli… they are nutritious and good for me too!” Then Papa Shark got very angry and he said, “No son! We are sharks! We eat meat and fish! We do not eat vegetables! Take this basket away!” Johnny The Shark was very sad but he did not want to make his father angrier. So he took the basket away and hid it in a corner in the kitchen.

The next day, Papa Shark was very sick. He could not get out of bed at all. Mama Shark and Johnny The Shark were very worried. So they called a doctor to see what was wrong with Papa Shark. Doctor Shark came to the house, and he inspected Papa Shark for a while. Then he said, “I know what is wrong with you! You have been eating too much meat, and you do not eat fruits and vegetables at all! That is not good!” Papa Shark weakly replied, “But… we are sharks… we eat meat… we do not eat fruits and vegetables…” “That is true,” Doctor Shark replied, “but it is important to have a balanced diet! You cannot just eat meat all the time! You must eat fruits and vegetables as well!”

Then Johnny The Shark remembered his basket filled with fruits and vegetables. He rushed to the kitchen where he had hidden the basket, and took out an apple. He gave it to his father and said, “Please dad, please just try this… it’s an apple and it’s very good for you!” So Papa Shark took the apple and ate it.

The next day, Papa Shark felt a lot better. He was not as sick as before, and he could get out of his bed without feeling ill! He called Johnny The Shark over and he said, “I am sorry son, for scolding you the other day. Now I understand we must always try something new!” And Mama Shark was very happy, and Johnny The Shark was very happy.

Rather lame, I know. Should Ryan remember this story when he grows up, I hope he wouldn’t think too poorly of his auntie who related such a story with weird nutritional and diet information to him. As for now, he is still a kid so his response was, “Papa Shark so naughty, he didn’t want to eat fruits and vegetable! I eat fruits and vegetables, I am healthy, yah?”

So that worked.