Chapter Fifteen
Once Upon a Time
“Once upon a time... ,” I intoned.
“Wait!”
“Wait what, Julie?”
“Brian, you can’t start a story like that.”
“I just did.”
“I know you did but you can’t,” Julie explained.
“Julie, you asked me to make up a story for you and that’s how it starts.”
“I want a story, but not like that,” she complained.
“Like what?” I asked.
“You can’t start it with ‘Once upon a time’,” she said angrily.
“Why not? Because it’s been done before?” I asked.
“No... it’s because that is so... ”
“Old fashioned?” I asked.
“Damn it, Brian, can’t you just start it normally?”
“Sure,” I said reasonably. “What’s a normal beginning?”
“How about: Many years ago... ,” she suggested.
“And that’s different from ‘Once upon a... ’”
“Brian, are you being dense?” she interrupted. “O
