I went to the Royal Ontario Museum a few weeks ago. While I was there, I met this little boy Ethan. I met him under a moose.  There is this big moose set up in the children's section that has an area to crawl through. When you crawl into it, there are a few other animals behind glass inside. So I crawl through, and this little boy is staring at the red fox. His mother is calling him, but this stuffed fox mesmerizes him.  Ethan is about maybe four years old and hasn't had much experience with dead things. As we sit there, meditating on the fox, another little boy joins us.  Yes, there is that much space under the moose. You've gotta see it.  The newcomer is about six or so. He sits there with us, and finally turns to Ethan and me and says, "You know they're dead, right?"  I nodded, and Ethan nodded too, in that solemn little boy way they have. Then the kid says to me, "Do you know why they're dead? Because they're bad.  That kind of freaked me out. What the hell are this kid's parents telling him? So I asked him if he'd ever seen a fox up close outside where they should be. He shook his head no. So I asked him if he knew why he'd never seen one. Again, no. I told him it was because people hunt them down and kill them for fun.  He looked at me very seriously then, because I had just contradicted something his parents had told him. "So, they're dead because people like to kill them, not because they're bad?  That's right, I told him. I also said that just because something is dead, it doesn't mean they are bad. He looked at me, and then scooted out of the moose cave. I heard Ethan's mom calling for him again, so I said to him,  "Hey, should we go find your mom?"  WE get out, and she's right there, looking at me like I'm a freak. I said to her that we were talking about red foxes like the one in the moose cave. She looks at me, then at her son, and I appreciate the look of protectiveness and guarded suspicion she threw me. I expected nothing less.  Then Ethan says to her, "And do you know what Mommy? Just 'cause somefin's dead don't mean it's bad." And he turned to me and smiled. I was stunned that he would say that. She looked at me again, and said something like take care and walked away. It was at that moment I decided that I would have a baby someday. Wow. I also realized I would have to be careful about what I said around other people's children, because kids are like fuckin€ sponges.

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