1. B E D T I M E S T O R I E S
(By Inés)
I have four grandsons. Three of them have lived in the USA since they were
born. Every year, I used to travel in order to see them growing up. My
“duty” was to make up stories for them, bedtime stories, in their native
language: Spanish from the River Plate. So, during their childhood I was a
story teller. It was easy anyway, a natural talent!
The plots were always alike, only the settings were different: once a forest or a
desert or whatever my imagination could make up. The main plot was the
following: I was going to be in trouble and they would save me with their
helicopter. I can still remember one that was their favorite. It was hot and I was
swimming in a river without noticing that a huge alligator was approaching
me in order to eat me. I was desperate and began to cry for help. Suddenly, my
boys arrived with the helicopter. As they were boys of great strength in their
arms, they managed to put a wooden stick into the alligator`s mouth. After
that, they threw a rope and I could climb up into the helicopter.
We created an imaginary theatre where we represented stories like Peter and
the Wolf and Peter Pan. As they were studying about Columbus, I
remember one of the kids knocking at the door begging for money to buy ships
and I was the queen. Also, as soon as I woke up, I had to tell them my dreams,
for sure, made-up dreams. We had great fun together.
Time has gone by, those kids have grown up and I´m sure they don´t
forget those magical moments. Some years ago, one of them had to introduce
himself for a college assignment and wrote about his granny and her invented
stories. Imagine how proud I felt.