Ghost Stories

As always - The Cast of Characters

Me (The Daddy)
The Bean: Age 8
The Butterfly: Age 6
The Darling Wife

Christmas at Ito and Ita's.  'Ito' is short for Abuelito and 'Ita', for Abuelita.  These words mean 'grandfather' and 'grandmother' on Peruvian side of the family.

Ito and Ita were thoughtful enough to use shorthand so when The Bean and The Butterfly were two, they didn't need grammar lessons to address the DW's parents.


So, Christmas at Ita's. The DW's sister has made her semiannual emergence from the Great White North of Minnesota.  She brings even less frequent Husband as well as her children.


I haven't come up with cute, random nicknames for my nieces.  Probably because I don't see them very often.


My other niece is there as well.  We call her The Bee.  She is the same age as The Butterfly.


So, we have five little girls in the house, ranging in age from 5 to 7.  They do the logical thing.  They tell Ghost Stories.


The Bean tells them her way.


"Once upon a time in a magic kingdom*," she starts,"there was a Princess named Bean."


Only The Bean would cast herself as The Princess in a Ghost Story.


The Bean tells her story.  She triumphs over The Ghost in the end.


The Butterfly gets a turn to spin a yarn.  "Once upon a time in a magic kingdom," she says, "there was a Butterfly.  And a Princess named Bean."


The Bean sure has the other girls drinking The Bean Kool-Aid.




*Given my propensity of using Random Caps, you may wonder why 'magic kingdom' is in Lower Case.  This is because I fear the wrath of Disney Attorneys.