"Stop telling such outlandish tales.
Stop turning minnows into whales."
This was one of my absolute favorites to read as a child. Mostly because it's exactly what I used to do, imagine the greatest things I could and then tell them as truth. It would frustrate my father like nothing else. It would make my grandmother proud. I took her advice for granted, but now I'm thankful to have it, "Sweetheart, our imaginations are the greatest gift we could have, you could be Athena hunting in the great hunt, but never leave the backyard."
"And that is a story that NO ONE can beat
When I say that I saw it on Mulberry Street!"
It really is a shame that some children are chastised for using their imaginations and dreaming wonderful dreams. I work at a grocery store, and it pains me like nothing else to see a child acting like a grownup. I have quite a rambunctious niece, and I've learned there's a big difference between teaching her to behave and just plain forgetting that she is four years old and will behave as a four year old must.
"There was so much to tell, I JUST COULDN'T BEGIN!
Dad looked at me sharply and pulled at his chin.
He frowned at me sternly from there in his seat,
"Was there nothing to look at . . . no people to greet?
Did nothing excite you or make your heart beat?"
"Nothing," I said, growing red as a beet,
"But a plain horse and wagon on Mulberry Street."