Hard Enough Chapter 267 - Ghost story

“Where did you find it?” Oak asked excitedly as he dodged another strike from Agatha.

“YOU! BLASTED! SINGLE! MINDED! FOOL!” Agatha growled as she drew her cane back for another stab, again and again with each word she uttered, only for Oak to dodge each attack.

I stood off to the side. This little back and forth had now beco sothing of a spectacle with more than a few kids even laughing in the crowd.

I wasn’t going to step in and point out how childishly they were acting.

If they wanted to be the after-fight clown routine, they could be.

Oak dodged another strike, and sothing shifted beneath him, causing to look down.

Agatha’s shadow was trying to ‘hug’ Oak’s ankles.

If you squinted your eyes, it sort of looked like a loving embrace but when coupled with the way the air was ‘whooshing’ with every stab that Agatha delivered.

Oh damn, Oak looked like he was goofing around but at the sa ti, he was dancing around being stabbed and grappled. I was probably the only onlooker who could even notice, thanks to being right next to them.

Agatha’s shadow spotted watching it and went back to its natural position.

It stayed there for all of a second before a red eye opened and winked out at .

When had Gengy gotten out of his pokeball?

I wasn’t sure an answer would settle the sudden dread perating through .

Both that Gengy had slipped his pokeball, and how Oak had been casually dodging Agatha’s attacks.

I dealt with Agatha on a regular basis, and she could still surprise with simple actions like this, which she didn’t even seem to notice. I think that made it more terrifying.

What was that quote? If soone is making sothing look so easy that anyone could do it, then you know they are a master.

Agatha huffed and feinted that she was going to stab Oak only for him to not even react. Instead, he just held out his hand expectantly while the other raised up a pokedex.

Agatha grunted and pulled out a handful of berries. She held out her hand as she released her exhausted-looking Aegislash.

“Here you are, girl, you did wonderfully today. You took down that bad man’s Tyranitar, yes you did!” she said in a cutesy voice that was so out of character for her, that both Oak and I stared at her.

“Rude,” I finally comnted. “I’m right here.”

Agatha just grinned and made a show of brushing the back of her hand up and down Aegislash’s guard. “Good girl, good girl,” she crooned.

I grumbled at her before an idea popped into my mind. I plunged a hand into my ever-present bag and drew out the lab coat that Oak had given for my lecture. I donned it and smirked as Agatha did a double-take.

Oak rely nodded approvingly. “We both have a lot of questions!” he reminded Agatha.

She huffed. “Alright, ask them and I’ll consider answering them truthfully,” she replied.

Oak’s stare grew stern, and she shrugged. “I don’t owe you answers!” she growled.

“Agatha, could you please answer our questions?” I asked earnestly, sensing that this was becoming a sticking point for them.

Agatha huffed and waved her hand at us. “Alright!” she snapped.

“So, where did you find her?” I asked, mindful of Agatha and her new pokemon.

Agatha grinned. “I have been rather looking to expand my list of pokemon, which has been difficult without any new regions that are open and accepting of catching and training pokemon as we do,” she said, obviously alluding to Fiore and its no catch laws.

Both Oak and I nodded along knowingly. Agatha smirked. “But then I happened upon so of the reports that Brock’s little company has been filing with the League about so of the ruins and temples.”

I was starting to see where this might be going, but I kept my lips shut.

Agatha caught my look of comprehension. “Yeeeees, you’ve realised it as well, haven’t you? A lot of those old temples and collapsed ruins? They all have hidden rooms and tricks!” she said with rising levels of glee.

Oak and I stared at her.

We didn’t need her to fill in the rest.

With her ghostly abilities, hidden rooms or even tunnels that had caved in due to ti or damage would an nothing to her. She could simply phase through the walls.

“So you found Aegislash in one of these ruins?” I asked.

Agatha nodded, taking out a polishing rag to begin rubbing at her sentient sword. “Yes, I surveyed. And I found they had potential, so I inspected a few of them a little more closely. For the first two, I found nothing of importance,” she said with a dismissive shake of her head.

I considered nodding for a mont before recalling that Dr Eve was having a good deal of difficulty with entering such rooms despite identifying so of them. Agatha could certainly help out there.

Agatha kept talking, unmindful of my thoughts. “I finally found sothing worth my ti when I examined the ruins to the north of Cerulean city.”

Oak made a noise of comprehension. “Ah, the shrieking ruins?” he asked.

Agatha nodded. “Indeed.”

“Why investigate there?” I asked as I consulted the map feature of my transceiver and found the site they were talking about. I honestly had never heard of such a site, but for them to casually ntion it… that seed odd.

It ca up as a tourist site for people looking into ‘haunted’ areas, and it read more as a lark than a place where you would actually encounter any ghost-type pokemon. There was even an advisory travel notice.

Huh, it wasn’t that far from the route that would lead towards Fiore and the Battle Pyramids. Agatha literally could have gone up that way on the pretence of inspecting the League’s route to Fiore only to split off to the ruins.

I stared at the ruins and then toggled another filter on the maps to showcase only ruins and tourist sites like this. A host of sites appeared on the map which was just showing the northern half of Kanto.

Wow, Agatha had a frankly huge number of sites where she might get lucky. It had never registered to as a site of any importance, but then again, it had been years since I’d really sat and contemplated exploring ruins or landmarks. When I had been investigating such sites, I’d prioritised the sites that had known payouts. Like Grampa Canyon, and the Hoenn Desert.

Agatha smirked as she continued to rub at Aegislash’s form. “I felt that there was a good chance that the layman might have missed sothing that might be more accessible to myself,” she continued.

The sash ca around and wrapped itself around Agatha’s arm. “Lash! Lash!” chid the ghost pokemon.

I watched this play out for a mont, noting that Oak was recording even this casual interaction with his pokedex while typing up his observations. Wasn’t there a theory about the sash draining life energy or sothing like that? I guess Agatha had it under her control?

A quick glance at Oak showed he wasn’t worried either and was instead tapping away on his pokedex.

I decided I'd better keep Agatha distracted lest she notice how Oak had slipped into his professional role.

“So you decided to just go looking for another pokemon, I take it?” I prompted.

Agatha gave a flat look, but I decided to keep digging. “You wouldn’t happen to have been looking for a site that was rich with Gengar for example,” I said, glancing down at Gengy pointedly.

Gengy wiggled in amusent.

Agatha snorted. “You obviously don’t understand how terrifying such a site would be. Gengar can be tricksters, but they are not human. Murder, for example, can be funny to a Gengar if they are left to their own devices too long. An area that is rich in ghost pokemon is always monitored and cleared by channellers, which has been our way for centuries. Gengarite will not be an easy find, as if it were easy to find, there wouldn’t be anyone alive to report the site. In a way, that itself would be the easiest indicator to look for if such a site existed.”

“Oh,” I said. “I… hadn’t really considered what it would an…” I said laly.

Agatha waved her hand dismissively. “Few understand the difficulties in handling ghost pokemon,” she replied, pointedly tugging on Aegislash’s sash.

Oak stopped writing and looked at Agatha properly. “You do it so marvellously, it is sotis difficult to rember such facts, Agatha.”

Agatha t his earnest gaze, and I suddenly felt like a third wheel to so relationship drama. I almost stepped back to give them space, but Gengy shifted in agitation, and Agatha returned to petting Aegislash.

The mont vanished, and Oak sighed before moving back to his note-taking, unaware of Agatha as she side-eyed him.

I decided to change the subject. “Any chance you could help out with the ruins in the Grampa Canyon we found?” I asked, moving things along.

“Hmmmmmm, perhaps after I have retired from the League. If I were to do it before then, there might be legal concerns,” she said.

I raised a finger and she shook her head. “Direct capture of a pokemon for myself, especially as one of the Elite Four, doesn’t count, but if I were to assist a company acquire ‘restricted resources’ the League would be looking to take more than just its pound of flesh,” she explained.

“If you take League resources, expect the League to ask for compensation,” opined Oak off to the side with the air of one who was reciting sothing from mory.

“Quite,” Agatha replied dryly.

Well, if the people who most likely wrote the laws of Indigo were saying it that way I best take their advice.

“Find any other pokemon?” I questioned, curious if there might be others.

Agatha smirked, tossed her hair lightly and opened her mouth, only for Oak to sigh and make her slump before she could even say anything. “She hasn’t found anything, as otherwise she’d be more coy, or she’d be crowing it to the rooftops,” he said.

Instead of stabbing Oak with her cane, she swept it around like a baseball bat and clubbed him. “Oafish Oak!” she said with a sniff.

She tossed her hair and raised her nose imperiously, and I chuckled as Oak rubbed at his ribs having been caught off guard for once.

“Any thoughts of having so eggs from her?” I asked.

Oak dropped his act of rubbing at his ribs and leaned in, but Agatha rely shrugged. “I will leave that up to her. So far, she hasn’t shown any interest in my pokemon which…” she gestured at her shadow which rose into the air and grew three-dinsionally.

Gengar took form and winked at us before turning towards Aegislash. He then made a show of licking the top of his head, his tongue lengthening and extending to huge proportions.

Oak and I coughed in surprise which made Gengar’s grin grow wider.

I had questions that I dared not voice.

It felt wrong just thinking them.

The safest of which was wondering how and why Gengy knew to show off his tongue?

Aegislash, rather than being impressed, blinked dolefully.

Impassive to the marvel of anatomy that was Gengar’s mouth. The only pokemon that could probably compete would be a Lickitung or a Lickilicky.

I shook that line of thought out of my mind and considered sothing, only for a polite cough to cause our group to look to the side to find an official smiling at us nervously.

The girl bowed. “That was a wonderful showing Gym Leader Brock and Elite Four Agatha! But the Rodeo has other events that need to proceed. The reporters also want to talk with you… at… your… leisure…” said the kid as she started to curl in on herself.

I looped a hand through Agatha’s arm. “We’d love to!” I said.

Agatha’s head snapped around, only for Oak to gain a vindictive look. He swept in and looped his arm around Agatha’s other arm.

I felt sothing cold grip my arm, and out of reflex, I swept dark energy through my body.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringent.

Agatha flinched and growled at both of us.

“You fools! I haven’t given the dia any attention in years! They should know better than to bother ! I made a rule out of it! They are like Sharpedo! If you feed them, they will always plague you! Best to give them only a swift smack to the snout to deter them!” she snapped.

“Well, rules are made to be broken!” Oak cheered as he helped march Agatha towards the building off to the side, where a table and chair had been set up.

As we got closer, I got to watch as the officials scurried to provide another two chairs for Oak and Agatha.

Huh, they had known she wasn’t going to stick around, hadn’t they?

We sat down behind the table, still pinning Agatha to her seat. with my dark aura, and Oak with what seed like just a disappointed look.

I smiled at the caras, while Oak waved rrily, Agatha glowered.

I glanced down and found Agatha’s shadow grinning like a madwoman at what was going on. Huh, it seed even Gengy was on our side.

I tapped the microphone and nodded at the sound of feedback. “Alright? Well, that was quite a match, wasn’t it? Hope you enjoyed the showing!” I said. “Questions?” I prompted.

The reporters twitched, so turned half towards Agatha only for her glower to intensify. Her eyes might have also turned slightly red for a mont there? Her shadow writhed like it was laughing.

Most of the reporters turned back to , sensing an easier target.

Only one reporter weathered the heat of her glare, microphone held at the ready.

They still weren’t quick enough to get the first question in.

“Gym Leader Brock! How does it feel to have your win streak finally end?” shouted one reporter over the top of the others.

I blinked, then I tilted my head and considered the match in the context. I… hadn’t really lost a ‘big’ match against soone since… wait, when had been the last ti I’d lost a serious match?

Had it been during my journey? Or was it during the fugue of being a new gym leader/parent to my family that I’d lost an Ace trainer match?

I would have to think about that. Since then, I had been on a winning streak, only I hadn’t ever really felt like that was the case.

“You know, I think I only just realised that was the case. I’ve sort of been jumping between being a Gym Leader, an Ace trainer and my other roles so much that I hadn’t considered it. I honestly didn’t prepare for this match as seriously as I could have, as today my goal was different for this fight,” I responded.

“Different how?”

“I wanted to learn how so of my more blunt strategies held up in a controlled setting. Turns out they don’t,” I said with a shrug. There was no point in ntioning Yvonne. She didn’t need to be dragged into the spotlight like that.

Next to , Agatha relaxed slightly. Ah, she’d been worried I’d ntion Yvonne as well, hadn’t she?

It also wasn’t true that this was my first ‘defeat’, at least not to .

If I thought about all the ‘big fights’ I’d been in, there were so where I’d deem just surviving as a win.

Fighting against Moltres in the Silver Ranges had been a desperate escape on my part only possible thanks to Lance’s intervention at the end.

Will’s fight had been a scramble even if I’d been fighting against a cheat who’d already stacked the deck as much as he could. A draw to him still tasted like ash to and curdled my stomach.

There was also the fight with Team Aqua on New Island.

wtwo had smashed Empress by himself and….

Well, it didn’t matter.

I shook my head. “As a Gym Leader, I so often have to deal with defeat that I try not to focus on things like my personal wins and losses. It can beco a bit depressing otherwise. As the traditional first Gym Leader, I end up losing a lot as most people who undergo the circuit at least have a general idea of how to gain their first gym badge,” I explained before I expanded on that comnt. “If people are doing things right, I lose a lot with wins on my behalf being limited in nature.”

It was only when things typically got to the fourth ‘tier’ where trainers were fighting for their fourth or greater badge that the statistics started slipping into a more even ratio for wins and losses for .

I offered a shrug. “Old habits can make less likely to notice a streak, but I certainly can notice ‘big’ losses,” I said.

Agatha turned and stared at . “And this wasn’t a big loss to you?” she said with what others would think was a needling tone.

She was just asking due to curiosity, but sadly, she was a tsundere, so she couldn’t do it without being snide.

I offered her a placid smile, knowing even as I did it that she’d hate that I wasn’t torn up over the loss. “Both of us had different objectives in mind for this match beyond rely winning and losing. I rember why I made this challenge,” I said.

The implied, ‘do you?’ rang out, and Agatha twitched towards where Yvonne was, only to stop herself, not wanting to reveal the link most likely. Instead, she clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“Elite Four Agatha! With your retirent fast approaching, what do you think you’ll do with your free ti?” asked the reporter who’d been waiting in the wings.

Agatha inspected the man for a solid minute before inclining her head regally, showing that she was willing to humour him, for now. “There have been several legends and sightings around the known world that have always intrigued . When I first took up my role as a mber of the Elite Four there were restrictions placed upon travelling to different regions. I think it might be high ti as well as being rather enjoyable to travel and visit places both old and new to ,” she said casually.

Oak stiffened and shot her a look. Ah, she was referencing places she’d travelled to and fought, wasn’t she? She… hopefully wouldn’t cause too many incidents.

She probably loved the idea of being able to make a ss, knowing that she would be leaving it up to soone else to clean up.

Huh, that… was another reason not to beco an Elite Four mber, wasn’t it? Tough luck Karen, I thought, knowing Agatha was going to make a nuisance of herself.

I rubbed a hand over my mouth to hide my amusent.

Another reporter turned towards Agatha, only to look like they were rethinking their life choices.

He considered his other options, of and of Oak and turned towards the smiling Oak. “What does the scientific community think—” Here he cast his eyes towards for a mont, which made recall I was wearing the lab coat. Whoops. “—about the latest discovery of new pokemon?”

“It is more the rediscovery which is in a way a more wonderful thing as we recover that which was lost to us!” Oak said candidly. “There are parts of our world shrouded from us, and we all have to work to slowly peel back the shroud to see what lies behind it! Lately, this has been happening at a much greater rate, which ans that there is more for us to learn!”

Oak laced his hands together and stared into the distance. “Now this isn’t a dull thing as since the ti we lost part of the world, we have also gained new thods of information gathering and sharing. The world has grown,” he said with a growing smile that made everything feel warr and brighter.

I felt myself sitting up taller, and for aches and pains to vanish from my mind. I felt like I could see the world laid out before , the more Oak spoke.

“We as people and pokemon have grown. We have stumbled and fallen, but we have risen and dusted ourselves off and beco more for the struggle. There is more out there, just out of reach and old bonds that have fallen by the wayside are just waiting to be picked back up,” he said.

I smacked my lips.

So this was what it was like having Samuel Oak, the Hero of the war, speak.

I suddenly understood why people followed him on what should have been an impossible dream of unifying two realms that had been fighting each other.

When Oak spoke, hope found a way into people’s hearts.

Hope for a better world.

I licked my lips and knew that, despite his age, if Oak called for it, hordes of people would follow where he led them.

Such as the power of a Hero.

Oak made to say more, only for his eyes to lock onto sothing. “I say! Look at that Golem riding that Onix!” he cried out with delight.

Everyone turned their heads, and I blinked as I realised that while we’d been talking with the reporters, the rodeo officials had cleared the grounds, fixed them up, and then restarted the events.

With the next event apparently being ‘wild’ Onix riding, which… was a thing that Sanchez had signed himself up for.

“Go! Go! Golem!” cried my electric-rock-typed pokemon as he rode the Onix down to the ground only for a giant cloud of dust to bloom from where the Onix hit the ground with a roar as it tried to ‘buck’ Sanchez off.

It must have been well trained as I knew a true wild Onix would have either rolled, twisted around on itself or rolled to crush the foolish being on its back. Instead, it rose and threw itself into a leap, creating a whiplashing-like action that caused Sanchez to rise out of his saddle.

His stumpy little legs kicked up into the air only for him to slam back into the saddle.

I grimaced, knowing that a male human rider would have just given up their ability to father a new generation if they rode an Onix like that.

Sanchez as a rock type, rely kicked his legs harder and cried out.”GOLEM!”

“Aegis…lash!” cried out the Aegislash next to Agatha.

I turned from the show to find Oak had vanished while Agatha looked peeved as she glared at Sanchez.

“Brock, what breeding group is your golem part of?” she said through clenched teeth as her eyes tracked to look at Aegislash who was squirming in a manner that put in mind of a blushing maiden.

“Mineral?” I offered up. “You could talk to a specialist to confi—”

“I don’t need to,” Agatha said only to smirk and direct her look down into her shadow. “Looks like you’ve just had a potential lover stolen from you Gengy,” she said with a cruel tone.

I blinked. Was she seriously giving her starter sass like that? I could only gape as Gengy rose to glare at her before turning to Aegislash.

Then he turned to Sanchez who was still riding the Onix despite people calling from him to end the ride having made it the full-ti allotnt he needed to proceed.

His eyes flashed, and out of instinct, I flicked my hand into my pocket to grab a rock where I laced it with so dark energy. Then I whipped it into Gengy’s head.

The huge Gengy stiffened and turned to stare at .

I t the crimson gaze without flinching. “No tripping up Sanchez,” I said knowing he’d been about to do sothing underhanded to my pokemon.

I’d stood up to wtwo for Empress.

Like hell I was sitting back while Gengy did sothing to Sanchez.

It reminded of what Agatha had said earlier. To Gengy it was just a trick, a prank. So what if the other being died? It was all just a ga to a ghost pokemon.

I held his crimson gaze, drawing a line in the sand that I was telling him he couldn’t cross.

Gengy clicked his tongue and vanished back into Agatha’s shadow.

Agatha considered before standing. “Well, I think with Oak’s departure I shall take my leave as well, you can handle the rest of this,” she said with a smirk. She then adopted an innocent expression, like butter wouldn’t lt in her mouth as she carefully walked away, the tap of her cane announcing her departure.

Before she left, she made sure to nod at .

I sighed and looked at the eager-looking reporters. I waved a hand. “Next question?” I said.

The quicker I got this done, the quicker I could join my family in having fun.

When I was done, I was in ti to catch Sanchez being awarded a huge blue ribbon as the champion Onix rough rider. I snorted as he brandished the ribbon about like he’d just won a major tournant.

I put an arm on him and congratulated him. We were about to straighten from posing for a photo, only for a tal spike to flick past and stab itself into the ground at Sanchez’s feet.

“Go! Go!” he cried out in surprise as he tap danced backwards. I glanced at the spike only to find it was a spike shaped like a sword with a small heart on the poml.

I glanced over my shoulder and spotted Agatha and Aegislash watching us from a rooftop only to flicker away like B-grade horror villains from so slasher movie.

I chuckled to myself, turning back to find Sanchez on his backside with wide eyes and his hand pointing at where the ghost pair had been.

“G-go go lem?” he stuttered fearfully.

I blinked. “Oh, don’t worry about them Sanchez. Agatha is just announcing her pokemon’s romantic intentions towards you.” I offered him the spike and showed him the love heart.

He stared at the heart blade but could only gape at with wide-mouthed terror. “Golem!” he barked, shooting his hands in an x of denial. He then put his hand on his chest. “Go lem lem lem!” he said, and I gathered that he was saying ‘why ? I’m just living my life? I don’t want to die!’

I coughed. “Oh, Aegislash doesn’t want to kill you. Quite the opposite.” I reconsidered my words and what I could recall about pokedex entries regarding Aegislash. “I don’t think she wants to hurt you. I think she wants you as healthy as you can be,” I said while pushing the idea of an egg to Sanchez through our bond.

Instead of perking up, he sat there open-mouthed. “Lem?” he whispered.

I chuckled. “Well buddy it’s like I always say, it’s all good and well to succeed but you have to be able to survive what cos next with success,” I smirked at him. “In your case? It sounds like you have an admirer.”

Sanchez blinked, standing to inspect the spike with the heart on it. He was entirely unsure what to make of this.

Bertha laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, knocking him into the dirt face first.

He rolled over with dirt all through his moustache and rather than getting mad, he sat up with a cackle and brandished the tal spike. He even made a show of kissing it.

“Ahaha, maybe don’t encourage her?” I suggested, only for my advice to fall on deaf ears.

I shook my head. “Poor fool doesn’t realise you should never encourage a stalker,” I muttered.

Sabrina chose that mont to link her arm with mine. “What was that?”

I coughed. Huh, pot and kettle, I thought to myself with a smile.

“Hmmm oh, nothing babe,” I said, turning my attention to other more important tasks. “Ti to get the kids ho to bed?” I suggested.

The kids did not like this suggestion but I was able to bribe them with the potential for stories which led to sitting in bed with all of the little ones arranged around while older kids like Yolanda and Salvadore hung around the door. Terra, Eevee, and Munchalx were all comfortably situated among the cluster of little kids.

Suzie was quick to suggest a story. “I want to hear about Diancie!” she said as she cuddled up to her incubator with what I expected would be Togepi within.

“No! I want to hear a ghost story!” Timmy barked.

Everyone paused at this and glanced at , only for to roll my eyes. “A scary ghost story?” I suggested.

“No!” shouted so of the kids with Munchlax shaking his head fearfully while Timmy nodded.

“Hmmmm,” I said, tapping at my lips. “So a nice ghost story?” I suggested.

This earned so hesitant nods and shared looks of disbelief. “Can ghosts be nice?”

I smiled. “Let tell you about Caspar the Gastly, and how he made friends with a—” I inspected my crowd. “—pair of twins,” I said.

This got a solid portion of the kids to perk up in interest.

“Very well, long ago in a town far away, there lived a young ghost by the na of Caspar. He lived in a mansion on a hill overlooking Spooky Town. All the ghosts from across the land had gathered up for the annual Scareathon—” I said as I started ad-libbing a story that wove together elents of Monsters Inc, Caspar, and Undertale.

I decided to add one of the small monts from the last ga that always stuck out to . “And so the little ghost reached out with his hand stretched wide over the twins' frozen bodies,” I said slowly, dragging the mont out as I acted it out with my own arm reaching across the pile of kids.

My family watched on with wide eyes as I reached over their little forms.

“Slowly, slowly,” I said again, making my arm creep its way forward.

There was almost a cruel glint in my eyes right up until I lowered my hand and grasped the bedsheet only to draw it up.

“And he brought up the covers and tucked the twins in for the night,” I said quickly.

The kids blinked in shock as they found themselves suddenly snuggly tucked in.

“Munch?” cried Munchlax in surprise.

“Eh? But what else happened? Isn’t the Scareathon still going ahead?” the kids asked.

I shrugged. “That can be tomorrow night’s story, for tonight, chapter one is enough,” I said, deciding to whet their appetite rather than give them everything they demanded.

I also needed to co up with an actual story for them.

“Awww, but I’m not—” Suzie said only to break into a huge yawn, “—sleepy,” she murmured.

I pat her head lightly a few tis and she fell asleep tucked up close to her incubator.

I pulled it from her grasp and replaced it with Munchlax’s sleeping form while putting the Incubator in clear sight on the table for Suzie.

With the story done, I rose and left the room, only to find the others all watching from the hallway. Sanchez and Nanny Grav had joined the listening crew.

“Bedti for the rest of you,” I said, shooing them off.

Sabrina nudged as we walked towards my room.

“I liked that story more than I thought I would. You should write them down,” she said.

I chuckled at the idea of being a writer for children’s books.

“Maybe I might one day, who knows,” I said as I headed for bed myself.