h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

One of my children's favourite bedtime stories are our so-called 'Magic Stories' in which I tell them bits of family history like the time my brother was bitten by a squirrel in our backyard or what happened when my father's dog chased an alligator in Florida (the alligator ran believe it or not!).

The girls love them and it keeps our family's history alive in a fun way for them...

But their favourite *has* to be about 'Uncle Jon and the Squirrel':

Once upon a time (they all start this way), when my brother Uncle Jon was just a little boy, he and my mom, Grammy, were working in the garden. And being a naughty little boy, he was starting to bother her.

Finally, he saw a squirrel in the yard and asked her if he could go catch it. She told him 'yes' because she knew that squirrels are very fast and he'd never be able to actually catch it.

But he did. He snuck up right behind it and grabbed its tail.

The poor squirrel turned around and bit him right on his pinkie finger.

So he ran back to Grammy and said 'Mom, that squirrel bit me!'

She jumped up and yelled 'What!!' and quickly ran him into the house to look at his finger and wash it. After that she called the police to come and arrest the squirrel and they took it away.

And after that Uncle Jon never tried to catch another squirrel.

The End.

Of course the real ending is that the police caught the squirrel and took it to a lab where it was killed and tested for Rabies, but my kids are still a little young for such a Brothers Grimm ending...

once upon a time i in my hostel git bitten by a rat i was afraid to be alone in my room as my room -mates had gone home on vacation i went to a friend"s room to sleep i told her there were so many rats around i would sleep in her room and a rat bit my pinkie finger too