bed time stories

when my son
was young
i'd read to him
the same stories
over and over
and over again
until both he and
i knew the next
line by heart.
so i began to
mix it up, to
change the plot,
the dialogue, make
it crazy and
outrageous. he
resisted at first.
but then joined in
and got the jist of
it. and now,
many years later,
when we talk,
and tell the tales
of our lives, we
try to figure out
if what we are
saying is real
or imagined, or
embellished and
polished to a
nice shine, like
we did so long ago.