Autumn Blessing Bean: An almost true story

A couple of young folks invited me to watch The Hobbit 1 and 2 with them, which was nice. But I talked too much during the spider scene in Mirkwood Forest-well, because I’m afraid of spiders, I guess.

I asked them if they knew Tolkein wrote the Hobbit as a children’s story-Yes, with orcs and trolls and spiders and Smaug “I am SMAUG! I kill when I wish! I am strong, strong, STRONG! My armor is like tenfold shields! My teeth like swords! My claws, spears!”

Why fill a children’s story with horrible monsters? I wondered. But I think little kids know they are small and weak and they worry about monsters. I did. I think “the badder the monster the harder they fall” makes little kids happy.

Maybe that’s why my sweet little daughter Autumn burst into tears when I told her not to pet the alligator because it…well, it would EAT her. This little story is for Autumn, dragon slayer, whose fingers are like darts and whose kick is like that of a mule on steroids.