guess

“Guess what I’m thinking about,” my grandson urges.

I guess and guess and guess.

“Tell me when you give up,” he says smiling slyly.

“I give up,” I declare joyously.

“I’m imagining an alien eating pizza,” he announces.

???!!

“You should draw that for me,” I say. “A picture of what you’re imagining.”

“But I don’t know what an alien would look like,” he admits.

And then, “Maybe it could look like a slug,” he suggests.

“A Slug from Slog,” I declare laughing.

“And it could only eat round pizzas; round like planets.”

“Pizza’s are always round,” he corrects seriously.

“Well then, his pizza has only things that start with the letter S on it.” I challenge.

“Like spinach……and salmon,” I chant.

“And sushi,” he adds, his eyes brightening, and we dash through the wide open door to the beginning of another day.


When I got home, I realized something about where stories come from and I quickly wrote this one down.


Felix and George threw down their back packs and raced across the grass. They slid to a stop at the edge of the creek.

” Let's see who can skip a rock farthest,” Felix called out.

“Whoa,” George exclaimed. “Look at this.” He dropped to his knees at the edge of the water.  A huge slug was climbing over a rock. “Hey, it looks like an alien,” laughed George.  He bent over and peered at the slug.  

“Ugh,” said the slug, but of course the boys didn’t hear him.

“The Alien Slug from Slog,” declared George.  “I bet everybody on Slog eats pizza.” George always thought about pizza.

“Only if the pizza is round like a planet,” said Felix

“Pizza is always round,” argued George

“Well, only if the toppings start with the letter S then.” added Felix.

“Spinach,” shouted George.

“Salmon,’ yelled Felix

“Sushi,” shouted George.

“Ugh,” said the slug, but of course the boys didn’t hear him.

“Look at his antennae waving around. Cool. I bet he’s trying to pick up signals from the spaceship,” Felix crowed.

“Spaceship?!” squeaked  the slug.

“I bet that’s toxic slime,” George grunted, making a face.

“Ugh,” said the slug. “Ugh, ugh, ugh.”

“Hey, it’s starting to rain,” said George.

“Let’s go. I’ll race you,” Felix called over his shoulder.

“I’m a Slug from Slog,” said the slug happily to himself.

But of course, the boys didn’t hear him.