The Conversation
By Patricia Darak
“Mom, are basilisks longer than the house?”
“Basilisks?”
“Yes, basilisks.”
“Hmm . . . I think so. Wait. Are they even real? What do you think, son?” This is the usual routine. I find out how much my kids think they know about something, and then I fill in the gaps.
“They are real. They’re like long snakes. They’re like water snakes, Mom. They can breathe under water. They can live under water.”
“So, do they have gills?”
“Of course, Mom. If they didn’t they would have to keep coming up to the air like dolphins.”
“Have you ever seen a basilisk?”
“Yes, I have. Don’t you remember we saw it in that Harry Potter movie?”
“But, Harry Potter is a pretend story. Remember?”
He looks at me for a moment. “Is London real?”
“Yes, it is. It’s a city in Great Britain.”
“Are those big red buses real? The kind with upstairs and downstairs?”
“Well . . . yes. London has double-decker buses. We’ve seen them in magazines.”
“So, if some things are real in a pretend story, then why can’t other things be real? Huh? Why?”
“Some things are just made up to make a good story. That way, the story is more fun.”
“Well, what if the stuff that isn’t real now will be real in a few years? Jets can fly, so why can’t broomsticks? Some computers have pointer sticks, so why can’t there be magic wands? Isn’t science kinda like magic?”
“Sure, you could look at it that way. In fact, that’s a great way to look at it.”
“And don’t you tell us that every invention started with someone saying, ‘what if’ and figuring out how to do it?”
“Yes, I guess I do. And it’s true, you know. It happens all throughout history.”
“So, why can’t someone just make all that stuff? Can we look up basilisks and see if they’re real?”
“Okay, that’s a good starting point. Let’s see . . . basilisk, basilisk. Here we are: basilisk. ‘A mythological serpent or dragon with lethal breath and glance.’ Hmm . . . or, a ‘large tropical lizard.’”
“See! They are real! I told you!”
“Well, the Harry Potter basilisk isn’t real. But, the lizard is.”
“What’s a mytho-, mytho-”
“Mythological.”
“Yes, that. That’s what I was trying to say. What is it?”
“Mythological means that something is true, but only in a story or a legend.”
He sits very still, thinking as hard as he can.
“Was Grandma really alive?”
“My Mom?”
“Uh huh.”
“Yes, you know she was. I tell you about my memories of her all the time.”
“And Grandpa? Was he really alive?”
“Yes, he was. You’ve seen his pictures. Why?”
“Well, aren’t memories just stories that someone tells?”
“Yes, but memories are real.”
“Always? Are they always real? All the time?”
“Well, sometimes memories get fuzzy. Even with things that you try to remember all of the time.”
“So, if they get fuzzy, then they’re not all true. Right?”
“Well, for the most part, they are true.”
“So, what’s the difference between a fuzzy remember and a mytho-, mytho-, a legent?”
“Legend. And, not much difference, really. Good point.”
“So, maybe basilisks were real a long time ago, but they died out and all that’s left is the stories. I bet that’s where the Harry Potter writer got the idea.”
“You may be right. That’s a pretty good theory.”
“What’s a theory?”
“A theory is an idea about something that hasn’t yet been proven.”
“So, do you believe me? Are basilisks real?”
I looked into his large soulful brown eyes, which were staring straight into mine, and let go of whatever minimal resistance my “logical” side was putting up. “Yes, I believe you. Maybe they were real. Who really knows? Who is still around from the time the myth started?”
“Probably nobody. They’d be pretty old or even dead, Mom. I bet basilisks were alive when dragons were alive.”
“Dragons?”
“Well, if basilisks were maybe real, then dragons were maybe real, too. There’s a lot of dragon stories . . . They had to come from somewhere, right?”
“Um . . . ”
“So, who knows? Maybe everything is real. How do we know, Mom? How do we know for sure?”
“Well, archaeologists and paleontologists can dig up bones and run tests to find out what they are.”
“Like in Jurassic Park? Like Alan Grant? That’s what he does. He digs up bones and tries to put them together like a puzzle. Dr. Ellie helps him.”
“Uh huh. Alan Grant is an archaeologist and Dr. Ellie is a paleobotanist.”
“What’s that?”
“A paleobotanist is like an archaeologist, but for plant fossils.”
“Oh! Cool! Okay.”
“Yes, I think it’s cool, too. What else do you want to talk about? Dinosaurs? Swamps? Anything?”
“Nothing. I’m done. I know what movie make-believe is. But, it doesn’t mean that it’s not kinda real.”
“Honey, I like the way your brain works.”
“Thanks, Mom. I do, too.”
He hugs me, and then goes into the other room. I’m glad he’s thinking about stuff like that; it makes me proud.
A few minutes later, he calls to me from the other room. “Mom! Can we watch Lord of The Rings?”
Oh, yes; I like the way his brain works. My brain works that way, too; I am a gigantic nerd, after all. All three of my kids have that nerd DNA, thank goodness.
I break out into giggles, then head into the other room to watch the movie with him. His two sisters are already seated and waiting.
And, as if on cue, “C’mon, Mom! Hurry!”
