Puff Piece

As always - The Cast of Characters

Me (The Daddy)
The Bean: Age 7
The Butterfly: Age 5
The Darling Wife

The Bean and The Butterfly had a Book Fair at their school on Tuesday.  The DW and I encourage them to pick out lots of books.

The Bean returns with her usual fare - books on Dora, on Barbie, on the Wiggles.  I quickly nix these and send her back to find "good" books.

Amid all the books based on rubbish television series and Disney princesses, I find an old classic - Puff, the Magic Dragon.  I essentially order The Butterfly to add it to her pile.  She does so happily.  She likes the idea of a Magic Dragon.

Did I happen to mention that the Book Fair was on September 15?

We get home and start to read the book in a sing song fashion.

Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee 
Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff,
And brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff 

Adorable lyrics.  Wonderful imagery.  I'm checking out travel brochures for Honalee as we speak.

But then... (ominous music) -

A dragon lives forever but not so little boys
Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys.
One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more
And Puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.

His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain,
Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane.
Without his life-long friend, Puff could not be brave,
So Puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave.

The Butterfly began to sob uncontrollably.  She refuses to turn the page and insists on staying with Puff as he cries in his cave.  Jackie Paper abandons Magic Dragons.  Butterflies do not.

Did I mention the Book Fair was on September 15?  Did I mention that I learned from The Crazy Baby Mama that Mary Travers (Mary from Peter, Paul and Mary) died the following morning?

Perhaps The Butterfly's crocodile tears were more poignant than we thought.  Perhaps in some strange way The Butterfly knew to hold Puff close.

Perhaps Mary Travers stayed with us long enough to ensure Puff was in warm, safe and loving hands.