“Grandfather! Grandfather!”
From seemingly thin air two freshly scrubbed children appeared, pink and glistening, to swarm about an old man. He snatched the smaller of the two, a boy with a pug nose and orbed eyes, and pulled him onto his lap.
“Yes?” he asked with a jovial chuckle.
“Tell us a story! You must, else mother will send us directly to bed!” replied the second child, a lithe little girl.
“Story! Story!” echoed the boy, throwing his skinny arms about his grandfather’s neck.
Laughing Grandfather shifted the boy to his left knee and invited the girl to clamber up upon his right.
“Alright my little pixies, a story it is. Back in the old days—“
“O Grandfather! That’s how all the boring stories start!”
“Shh! If you are going to interrupt then I won’t tell you a story after all.”
The little boy clapped his hands over his mouth. His sister simply crossed her arms and looked at her grandfather sternly. Both were carefully silent.
“As I was saying,” Grandfather said, eyes twinkling, “back in the old days…"