The Little Boy and the Babysitter

Curiously enough, the police captain did not offer to baby-sit again, but instead recommended a babysitter. She had plenty of experience and had babysat his son when he was younger. And so the detective hired the babysitter to watch the little boy while he was a work.

When the babysitter came, the little boy watched her from behind the detective's legs. She was an older woman with gray hair and carried a rather large purse. She bent down and smiled widely at Blair, "My! Aren't we just the cutest thing ever!" she said pinching his cheek. Blair scrunched up his nose and hid behind Jim. He hated to be talked down to.

"Now Chief," Jim said pulling Blair out from behind him and lifting him into his arms, "you be good for Ms. Johnson." "I'll be back right after work," he reassured, setting Blair down and ruffling his hair.

"Oh, don't worry about us," Ms. Johnson said, "we'll be just fine--won't we, sugar?" She smiled widely and pat Blair on his head. The four-year-old sent Jim a desperate plea with his eyes, but alas the detective did not see it and the door closed leaving the two alone together.

"Now, what should we do first," Ms. Johnson asked setting her purse down on the chair. "Oh! I know," she said clapping her hands together;" I'll say an animal and you can tell me what sound it makes!" The little boy looked incredulously at the babysitter who was obviously delighted at this idea. He had never played this particular game before and it didn't seem very challenging and so the little boy decided add a bit more to his answers. "The cow says..." the babysitter began in a singsong voice clapping her hands. She paused, waiting for his answer, smiling widely in anticipation.

"The cow makes a noise usually described as a 'moo'. Cows are used for food here in the United States, but in India they're considered sacred animals and..." the little boy answered gesturing with his hands as he excitedly told her about cows in India. The babysitter's smile faltered.
"My! You seem to know a lot about cows," she interrupted.
Blair stopped in midsentence and blinked up at her.
He opened he mouth to say something when the babysitter quickly announced that it was just about time for lunch.

Lunch went by without incident and buoyed by this the babysitter asked Blair what he wanted to do. The little boy asked if she would tell him a story. The babysitter was relieved at this--she knew many children's stories and felt that she told them rather well. The little boy settled beside her on the couch and she began,
"Once upon a time in..."
"When?" the little boy asked.
"Once upon a time," she repeated.
"But, when--100 years ago, a thousand...?"
"A very long time ago," the babysitter said and began again, "Once upon a time in a land far far away there lived..."
Only to be interrupted again: "Where?"
"In a land far far away," the babysitter explained with a now forced smile.
"But..." he started to say but the babysitter quickly continued on,
"Once upon a time in a land far far away there lived a princess..."
"A princess of what?"
"Just a princess," the babysitter said taking a deep breath. "Once upon a time in a land far far away there lived a princess in a beautiful castle..." The little boy opened his mouth and the babysitter anticipated his question saying, "no one knew where the castle was as it was a hidden castle..." she felt quite proud of herself for thinking of that until,
"What kind of castle was it?"
"A big one," she answered quickly and began again, "once upon a time there lived a princess in a big castle..."
"You forgot 'in a land far far away," the little boy pointed out.

That evening, when the detective got home he was surprised by a much frazzled babysitter hurrying out the door the moment it opened. As she pushed past him she shouted "I quit!" The shocked detective quietly closed the door behind him and turned to look at the little boy who was innocently coloring on the floor. The detective sent him a questioning look and the little boy shrugged his shoulders obviously as mystified by the babysitter's reaction as he was. And that was how little Blair spent his first--and last--day in the care Ms. Johnson the babysitter.
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