“Now you two listen closely. There are beasts in this world which do not threaten you, but you still should not get too close.”

“Are they mean and vicious, with long tails and fangs that our lady warned us about?  She said her Daddy would protect us from them, and Ajax and Helena are always chasing them away.”

“No, my lamb,  these creatures are slow and are not afraid of anything.”

“But why are they not afraid?  What would happen if I am too curious?”

“Well, I’ll show you Aunt Dotty’s face.  She is always letting her curiosity get the best of her.”

“She had an immense curiosity about life, and was constantly staring and wondering.”
― Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

“Oh Maaama! What sort of beast shoots tiny darts like that!?! How are they going to get those out of her?”

“Well son, stubborn Aunt Dotty will fight and run because she is in pain and scared, but she will calm down once she knows they are helping her.”

“Oh dear, this is horrible.”

“Oh those pliers had to dig in to get out those needles that were in so deep! Thank goodness she stopped fighting and let them help her.”

“Yes darling, we tried to warn Dotty about the creature, but she would not listen. Dotty by name and Dotty by nature.”

“Oh Maaama, there were so many needles in her face. Can the creature come and shoot me?”

“No, my darling. This creature has self protection and will leave you alone if you respect it’s space and let him pass on peacefully. There are those in this world different than we are, but we should give them the freedom to be themselves and live their lives as they see fit.  If we try and crowd them, or scare them, or change them, then perhaps their fear of us might turn them against us.”

(Thank you Francie and Allan Ivy for lovely lamb photos.)