"Cinderella and the Giraffe"

Sooby has seen enough Walt Disney movies and had enough books read to her to be dangerous.  This is especially apparent in a game we have been playing lately.  Here are the rules: Off the top of my head, I start a story about a familiar fictional character, stopping at a key place to let her finish the sentence.  I  then forge ahead with the story.  Here is an example:

Googie:  One day Cinderella woke up bright and early.  Her little bluebird friends flew into her window.  "Get up," they chirped.  "Come and look what's outside the window!"  Cinderella went to the window and looked out.  She couldn't believe her eyes when she looked down and saw a--

Sooby:  --giraffe.

Googie:  --giraffe.  He had spots and a long, long neck.  Cinderella stared in amazement.  Finally, she asked the giraffe--

Sooby:  --"What are you doing?"

Googie:  --"What are you doing, Giraffe?"  Cinderella really wanted to know.  She had never seen a giraffe before. She wondered if it had escaped from the Royal Zoo.  It wasn't a regular giraffe, though.  It looked very strange, with a--

Sooby:  --tennis shoe in its mouth.

Googie:  Yes, strange though it was, the giraffe had a tennis shoe in its mouth.  But it wasn't a regular tennis shoe.  In fact, it looked kind of like a--

Sooby:  --glass slipper.

Googie:  --a glass slipper, yes.  Now what would a giraffe be doing with a glass slipper?  Cinderella was puzzled.  Just then, her Fairy Godmother came down in a cloud of sparkles.  "Oh, dear," she said.  "I waved my wand the wrong way and made a terrible mistake.  I was trying to help this giraffe get home to Africa.  But instead, he ended up at the Royal Ball with this glass slipper.  Whatever will we do now?"  Cinderella knew just what to do, so she said to her Fairy Godmother,--

Sooby: --"Wait a minute while I get my clothes on."

Googie:  Yes.  That's exactly what she said.  Cinderella was, after all, a very proper young lady.  And when she was all dressed, she said, "Fairy Godmother, I have an idea.  I think we should--"

Sooby:  --"all eat breakfast now."

Googie: That's right.  So Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother and the giraffe all sat down to a delicious breakfast.  It had all of Cinderella's favorite things to eat, which were--

Sooby:  --peas and yogurt.

Googie:  Yum, yum.  When they were finished, the giraffe said he had to go.  But he left the glass slipper behind for Cinderella, in case she needed an extra one.  He had heard about her losing one once when she was coming down the stairs.  It was time for the Fairy Godmother to go home, too.  As she was leaving, she said one last thing to Cinderella.  "Cinderella," she said, "you must always remember to--"

Sooby: --"feed the cat."

Googie:  Cinderella said she would make sure the cat always had plenty to eat.  She gave the cat some peas and yogurt too.  This made the cat very happy.  The End.

Fun as this is, unfortunately, the game comes with a caveat.  There will come a time--in a week or maybe a couple weeks or even a month--when your grandkid will ask you to repeat one of your past creations.  From experience I can tell you that this is darn difficult, if not downright impossible, to do.

That is why it is a good idea to at least make a few notes--or, perhaps, if you have more time, to write a blog.