The story of the goboling

K needs a stool to climb out of our clawfoot tub after his bath. During a week when I worked late every day and wasn't home for bathtime, JW would cover the stool with a towel so K could climb down in style. K was disappointed when I returned to my usual bathtime post and didn't do the same.

Once I figured out what he wanted, I started putting the towel out too. "Did you do that?" asked K. "Wasn't me," I said. "Then who?" It was right before Halloween, so I had monsters on the brain. "Must have been a goblin," I replied. "What goblin?" "The one who lives in our house."

The story of the goblin evolved over time. ("Why can't I see him?" "He keeps out of sight because he's scared of little kids." "Why?" "A little kid trapped him once.") During Thanksgiving, K kept begging me to tell him "the story of the goboling" and then he would act it out.

We haven't talked about it in over a month now, so here, for posterity, is the story of the goboling.

Once upon a time, a little girl was exploring her new house. She looked in every nook and cranny. She went up to the attic and down to the basement.

In the basement, she noticed a strange hole near the floor. It looked too big to be a mouse hole. She lay down and peeked inside, and saw little furniture! She had never heard of a mouse sleeping in a little bed. She wondered who could live in there.

The little girl waited by the hole for almost an hour. Finally, she saw a little creature rushing by! "Wait," she called. "Who are you?" The little creature looked nervous. "Who, me? I'm just a goblin. Excuse me, I should go." "Don't go!" she said. "Do you live here?" "Yes," he replied cautiously. "I live here too!" she exclaimed. "Let's be best friends! We can play have have lots of fun together." "I don't think that would be a good idea," he said. The little girl ignored him. "I have an even better idea! You can be my pet! You can sleep in my room, and you can live in my pocket and I'll take you to school with me!" The goblin was offended. "I am not a pet," he said. "Now please excuse me." The little girl called after the goblin, "You'll love being my pet! You wait and see."

The little girl really did believe the goblin would love being her pet, once he got used to it. But how could she convince him? She decided that she might not be able to convince him, but she could catch him. He might be upset at first, but over time he would be glad she made him her pet. Now how could she catch a goblin? She went into the kitchen, where her mommy and daddy were cooking lunch. "How can I catch something?" she asked. "Catch something?" said Mommy. "Like what?" "Like... a bug," she said. "I used to catch fireflies when I was a little boy," said Daddy. "I'd catch them in a jar. Just remember to poke holes in the top. The holes should be big enough so they can breathe, but not so big that they can escape." The little girl smiled. "That sounds easy. Thanks, Daddy!"

She went back to the basement and waited by the goblin's hole, jar in hand. She waited so long she nearly fell asleep. But finally her patience was rewarded. Just as the goblin went scurrying toward him home, PLOP went the jar. He was trapped! "Let me out!" yelled the goblin. "I am not your pet!" "Don't worry, goblin," she said. "We'll be so happy together." "HELP!" cried the goblin. "LET ME OUT!"

The little girl heard a noise on the stairs. "Shhh," she whispered to the goblin, and hid the jar behind her back. Her big brother poked his head into the basement. "What's going on down here? I heard a commotion." "Nothing," she said. "HELP!" cried the goblin. "I heard it again!" said her big brother. "What are you hiding?" Reluctantly, she brought our the jar. Her brother's eyes widened. "What's that?" "I'm not a that!" cried the goblin. "And I'm not a pet! I'm a goblin! Let me out immediately!" "You'd better let him go," said the big brother. "No!" she protested. "He's going to be my pet!" "HELP! LET ME OUT!" yelled the goblin. The big brother tried to grab the jar to free the goblin, but just then their mother called, "Kids! Time for bed!" The little sister stuck the jar under her shirt and ran up to her bedroom. The big brother arrived just in time to see her place the jar in her dresser drawer, whisper, "Good night, goblin," and close the drawer tightly.

That night, the little sister drifted happily off to sleep, imagining the fun that she and her goblin would have the next morning. But the big brother couldn't sleep at all. He kept tossing and turning, imagining how scared the goblin must be. When he was sure his sister was sound asleep, he snuck into her room, opened the drawer, and loosened the lid of the jar. The goblin sprang out and sprinted away without a word. The big brother put the jar back in the drawer and went back to bed. This time he slept.

He awoke the next morning to the cries of his little sister. She appeared in the doorway to his room. "My goblin escaped!" "I know," he said. "I let him go." "WHY?" "He didn't want to be trapped. It was wrong to keep him like that." "But he was going to be my pet! We were going to have so much fun together! He just needed some time to get used to it." The big brother frowned. "How would you feel," he asked, "if someone took you away from your home and trapped you?" "Scared," said the little girl. "And upset." "And how do you think the goblin felt?" The little girl thought about it. "I guess I was wrong. I was so excited that I didn't think about how the goblin felt at all. Let's go find him now and I'll tell him I'm sorry."

The brother and sister went down to the basement and peeked into the goblin's hole. It was completely empty. All the furniture was gone, as if no one had ever lived there. They looked at each other. "Do you think I scared him so much that he ran away?" asked the sister. "I think you might have," said the brother.

They never saw the goblin again. They could tell he was still around because sometimes they would find nice things mysteriously done for them, like towels that appeared on their bathroom stool or things that had been lost suddenly turning up again. But even though the goblin still loved children and wanted to help them, he was very careful after that to never let a little child see him again.