Suzy Has Some Further Thoughts

 

        Suzy had been sitting around with a wrinkled forehead ever since she woke up that afternoon. Something seemed to be causing her a little bit of consideration. With Suzy, it could be anything Willie thought, getting himself prepared for the discussion he could feel building.
        “Say, um, Willie, do you remember when we were talking about the different kinds of stories the other day?” she said. “I mean non-literal stories?”
        “Look outside Suzy! I just saw a crow in our backyard,” he said hoping to divert her attention. She does glance at the crow.
        But she has the bit in her teeth, more or less.
        “No listen. Remember it was about fables, fairy tales, and folk tales. Remember the differences?”
        “I’m not sure it matters,” said Willie.
        “No, it matters,” said his sister earnestly.
        “See, some stories are meant to teach a lesson. Those are fables. They might have talking animals, such as we are, but no uncanny characters. At least those are not essential to a fable.
        “Then with folk tales, goodness anything can be a folk tale almost. But I think of them as being the people’s history. Something happened and the people remember it in story form, right?
        “Then we discussed fairy tales, or even faery tales, depending on taste. Now fairy tales are interesting. They can include a warning. They might have, and probably do have an element of magic, curses, spells and such. They very likely have some unnatural actors such as the fairies themselves! Strange things happen. Nothing is off the table as far as I can tell,” finished Suzy, taking a breath.
        “You don’t even read, where are you getting all this,” asked her patient brother.
        “Oh, I don’t know. Some sort of feline Jungian database, or something. I tend to know what She knows, if you get my drift Willie.” She paused to look enigmatic for a moment in time.
        “But I left something out. Later I got to thinking. You know what it was?”
        “I can’t imagine,” said Willie.
        “It was fantasy! And now I don’t know where to put it in the list. Is it another type of story entirely, or is it the heading they all go under?”
        “I think you might have a point there,” said Willie. “Because all of those types of stories have fantasy elements. Not so sure about folk tales, but they may also!”
        “Indeed, they do,” said Suzy, “but isn’t there a type of story that is more modern and is merely a fantasy?”
“Oh. You mean all that stuff with no referents in psychological truth, no lessons or warnings, no history packed into it? Just free floating imaginary plot?”
        “There is that,” said Suzy finally.
        “I think that we have covered it well enough for a couple of domestic lions,” said Willie. “Not much more could be expected of us.”
        “That’s right,” said Suzy.
        “Now the sun is going down. Lights are coming up in all the nearby houses. The evening commences! It’s time to go to watching,” added Suzy. “Watching is very important.
        “For it is during the night that the Large Ones may visit our street. Somebody needs to keep an eyes on things and those silly dogs barking at raccoons and crows and so on, are not that effective,” she sighs.
        It’s an important job and she takes it very seriously.
They sit together eyes fastened on the sliding glass door, the interface with all of creation, as it were, as far as they know it.
         Patiently, they wait.