Contributed by Lawrence E. McGee
Once upon a time, not so very long ago there lived a little boy with his family in their Cape Cod house in New England.
Now, this little boy made mistakes, told fibs and generally got in trouble. After all, that is one of the ways that children learn and grow, isn’t it? Well, this little boy – we’ll call him Stewart – had a sister who was much older, and a baby brother who was quite a bit younger, so when there was any trouble it was pretty clear who was the culprit.
Stewart lived in a tiny bedroom his father had built in the north end of the house’s attic and it was always chilly in there. The steam radiator would bang and hiss and gurgle, but not much heat came out. Beyond the short side walls under the eaves it was even colder, and it was dark and spooky, with all sorts of abandoned clutter stored in there.
Stewart was a good little boy at heart so he got quite tired of learning by making mistakes and getting in trouble. What to do? Aha, he thought, I’ll invent an imaginary friend to take the blame for some of the missteps! And so, he invented the Eskimo Who Lives Under the Eaves.
Next time there was trouble, Stewart put on his best serious face and said, “The Eskimo Who Lives Under the Eaves did it”. Well. What’s a scolding old mother to do? Punish him for making trouble AND for fibbing about it? Or believe him. His mother, who was very strict, was also a good person at heart and admired creativity just said, “Oh,” and let the whole thing drop. Stewart concealed a wicked grin. It had worked! Soon he overheard his mother telling his father and his aunt and his uncle and the neighbors about the Eskimo and he was very happy. He knew the Eskimo was imaginary, but he pretended to truly believe in him. And his mother thought it was so sweet that Stewart had an imaginary friend. Being careful not to overdo it, Stewart and the Eskimo grew through a bumpy spot in growing up, and his mother was relieved not to have to pester him over every little thing that went wrong.
And so they all lived happily ever after. Or at least for a while.
THE END
