Ava: Do pirates suck your blood?
Me: No, vampires do, but there aren’t really any vampires.
Ava: What are vampires?
Me: Vampires are in stories but they’re not real.
Ava: Are pirates real?
Me: Yes, pirates are real. They’re people who rob other people on ships. But not people like you, like big ships and pirates have their own boats and they go up to other boats and steal stuff. There are real pirates and there are stories about pirates that aren’t all real.
Ava: If you had a treasure chest of gems on a boat, pirates would steal that.
Me: Yes, that what stories about pirates are like.
Ava: Let’s go play on the playground.
Me: Okay, but remember my back is really sore today. I won’t be able to pick you up. I can’t pick up anything right now.
Ava: But if you saw a gem you could pick that up.
Me: You’re right. I could.
Grace Mattern 