Kendall, quite seriously -- my nieces and nephews grew up on their father and uncles telling them stuff like this. They love it even now, when the oldest is married and has his own kid. The stories I wrote for them over the years are carefully saved and when I arrive I'm asked to read one and then "Jus one more! Please!"

Most of them are set in a Swamp. Even more have been told for years, only I filed off the serial numbers and present 'em as genuine experiences. Snow snakes, a haunted outhouse, sailing across a lake of quicksand (to smooth the boards, of course), garshrikes, Mississippi Valley Rubberwood trees, why the dinosaurs all moved first to Yellowknife and then to beyond the Brooks Range, giant man-eating bats -- they love 'em all.

Even today a good story (or even a lousy, but imaginative, story) can make kids pay attention. And adults. You're never too old for your fantasy button to be pushed.