"Lesson"

"There! There!" Javier pointed to the distant hills, "See that castle?"

Sure enough, Ms. Miller saw it. The building was hidden behind a blue veil, as though it were trying to be part of the blue sky behind it. But amidst the clearing of trees, it was a hard structure to miss. A spite shot up from the center of the castle, a shorter one erected on the left side. The walls seemed to be made of some silver brick, although the veil made it hard to tell exactly what color it was.

"Yeah," she said, "I've... actually never noticed that."

"They're saying it's Disney World," said Javier, "But that's down in Florida. This isn't it."

"I think it's a church," the teacher replied.

"No way! It's gotta be a castle!" Javier insisted, "And I'm gonna go there! I'm gonna battle through swarms of beasts and monsters until I get to those two doors! And when I shove them open, the thunder will crack and a voice will say..."

He struck a pose, gesturing to the hills in the distance. Then, he held his arms out as though he were giving a speech to the masses.

"'...Welcome home, Your Highness.'"

Ms. Miller held back a chuckle. Impossible as the idea was, the fourth-grader certainly had an imagination. Not wanting to keep him to his delusions, but not wanting to discourage him either, she paid the most pragmatic compliment that could come to mind.

"It'd make a really good movie," she noted.

"I know, right!" the kid said with a beam.

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