Separating The Truth From The Goats

(My five-year-old cousin is staying with us for the weekend while his parents are on vacation. Most of the time he’s with us he watches me play a video game. He tends to describe movies and TV shows as though they’ve actually happened to him, which leads to this exchange when his mother comes to pick him up on Monday.)

Aunt: “So what did you do with [My Name] while I was gone?”

Cousin: “We found a magic sword, fought evil goat people, and saved the Angel of Hope from demons!”

Aunt: “… You did what?” *to me* “Did this actually happen?”

Me: “Of course, [Aunt]. I really did take [Cousin] on a journey to find a magic sword and save the Angel of Hope from demons. That’s why we have goat skulls impaled on sticks in the front yard. Gotta keep those goat people away from the cottage somehow!”

(I think she got that it was a video game after that, but part of me likes to think she looked around for goat skulls on the way out…)