Telling Tall Tales: A Kindergartener's Story

http://www.nga.gov/kids/

After pulling together yesterday's post, I realized that I've always invented stories, ever since I was young. I remember in kindergarten I loved show-and-tell. I always chose tell. Maybe because I always forgot to bring a thing to show. Who can say? It's all a bit fuzzy now. I do remember the tells though.

One time I told the entire classroom that I had a twin sister named Mary. I had a very compelling story and a few of my classmates might have even believed me. I came to school the very next day, hair parted on the opposite side. That day I was Mary. It only improves the story, right?

But at show-and-tell that day, I had moved on. I had a new story, this one involving a great airplane ride into the jungle. My parents and I were going on a safari. But there were scary, bad men in the jungle. They were after us.

The little girl across from me, who was precisely the same age as I was, looked frightened. "Go on," she said.

Before I could finish, the boy next to me shouts out, "I was there and I saw it."

Imagine my shock. I swallowed, but went on. "Yes, and we ran very fast and leaped back into the jeep."

He smiled so large, so proud. I smiled as well. It was my first collaboration. Maybe ever the first Keep It Going story.

The teacher was amused, but needing to keep her classroom under control, pulled us aside. "From now on, for tell, we need to clarify if the story is true or make believe."

I was happy for that. Now, I knew that it was possible to tell a tall tale and it not be a lie. Let the story live on.