The Talk

This is a work of fiction. No real people, places or events were used. Copyright ã 2011 Plot Roach.

The Talk


By Plot RoachSit down, sweetie. It’s time we had a talk.

No, it’s nothing like that. It’s about where you came from.

Yes, I know we already had THAT talk. But this is about something different. You’re adopted. I know that it’s hard to believe, but your father and I think that it’s time you knew the truth.

No, sweetheart, we love you as much as if you were our own. We love you just as much as your brothers. Maybe more, because we CHOSE you. But don’t tell them that, though. They would never forgive us.

Well, yes, sweetheart. You are different. We thought that you would have figured it out by now. But I guess love makes us blind to reality. I would have thought that being covered from head to foot in blue feathers and having a prehensile tail would have been enough for you to tell that you weren’t one of us.

No, sweetie! Those things only endeared you to us even more. You were so different from the others at the adoption agency. We didn’t think you a freak at all.

No, I’m afraid that I lied to you about our relatives being circus freaks. We thought it would make it easier for others to accept you like we did. There’s not a lot of kids in the neighborhood who can climb a tree as fast as you can. Nor can any of them fly like a bird. We just thought that if we gave you a down to earth story about your past, then others would love you for who you are and not what you are.

Where you came from? Well, you’ll need to sit down for this one. Do you remember the song I used to sing for you when you were little? The one about the green sky, the whales that floated on clouds and about how you would dance by the light of the three moons? That was something your REAL mother used to sing to you.

She’s from another planet.

No, I’m not kidding. She and some of her kind were here on some ort of exchange program. But she got ‘in the family way’ by one of her friends. The pregnancy only lasted a month, but she couldn’t take you home right away because of the laws there. You’d be seen as an illegal alien there. But here on Earth, you have automatic citizenship. So we volunteered to raise you until the paperwork went through. Eventually, we just saw you as our own. But now it’s legal for her to call you home. So you’ll have to be a brave girl and show them what it’s like to be human. Okay?

Now cheer up and put on a bright smile, your other mother will be here in fifteen minutes and you’ll be spending the summer with her in order to learn about your ‘cultural heritage’ or something like that.

Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m sure you’ll love it there. And I’ll send you letters every week. And even include a batch of your favorite butterscotch birdseed oatmeal cookies with every letter. Now dry your tears and settle down or else the neighbors will think that you’re going to eat their dog -again.