Page 7 - Fables volume 3

The Facts of Life

“Why can’t I go? Everyone else is going!”
Momdad realized Soppy had reached the age of necessary
revelation and consequent disillusionment. There would be no end to
the whining and sulking unless they had The Talk.
“All right, Soppy. I can’t stop you if you’re so determined. But you
must pay attention to me first. Someday, when you’re as rooted as I
am, you’ll probably have to say the same things to your offspring.”
Wiggling and squirming, the little sponge couldn’t even conceive of
being sessile. “You mean I can go trick-or-treating with Polly? Oh,
boy! Now I need to get a costume.”
“That’s as good a place to start as any, Soppy. Now follow me
closely: what is Hallowe’en all about?”
“I know that, Momdad. It’s being scary, or pretending to be scary,
so people will be impressed and reward you.”
“And what do you consider to be scary?”
“Nothing is more frightening than dead bodies!” Soppy was
authoritative. “Unless it’s dead, rotting ones.”
“Who told you that?”
“Why, everyone knows that Hallowe’en requires skeletons and
ghouls and ghosts.” Soppy was transparently evasive.
“Let me tell you where that came from.” Momdad was stern.
“Human beings invented Hallowe’en and made it in their image.”
“Who?”
“Creatures who live above us. They are very, very scary. They even
scare each other. And that is because they do indeed rot away upon
death, leaving just their bones behind. And that is a terrible thing to
see, animated as a costume. What kind of costume were you thinking
of?”
“Um, something like that. I don’t really know what my skeleton
would look like.”
Momdad broke it to him gently. “Soppy, you won’t look any
different when you’re dead. And the humans may come and kill you
just because of that. They use us after we die, because we can still
absorb and expel fluids.”
“Me? They want to kill me?”

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