Impermenance

Doing a  lap around the garden Son found a millipede; dry and hollow.
He picked it up and brought it to me.
"Look, I found a shongololo" he said holding it between his fingers
"Aha!" then, "It doesn't seem to be moving." I said
"He's sleeping" then, an admission after swapping the little thing from hand to hand a couple or times; "Naaaa, he's dead".
"Shame. Okay then, put him down somewhere and let's go" I said, heading towards the garage
"No, I want to bring him with"
Endeared by his devotion I fetched a used sushi tray for the specimen and off we all went.

Throughout breakfast the tray sat on our table. The odd package received varying degrees of interest from the waiters, who have known the kids since they were mere worms themselves.

As we neared the house again after breakfast Son asked about the worm. Shit. I didn't remember seeing it on the table when we left and it certainly hadn't come back with us in the car. We went back. Had anyone seen the shongololo? The one in the sushi container? A kind waiter who had been particularly interested in Son's dead friend went to look for him in the kitchen and came back with a reluctant shrug and an empty tray.         

Son was sad. Really sad. He told me, "I feel so sad"
I carried his limp body back to the car and didn't know what to say. 
I told him, "I don't know what to say, my boy".

Then, after a little while I say, "I know this probably won't make you feel much better right now, but perhaps there is something to learn from all this. Like the fact that most things don't last forever. Things come into our lives for a certain amount of time, and we never really know how long or short that time will be. It is usually hard when things that you care about aren't with you anymore but that's just the way life works. You friend Shoongy was only in your life for the morning and, I suppose, instead of being sad that he has gone, you can be glad that you had him while you did!"
Silence. We drive in silence. I could go on but I don't. Then:
 "Do parrots have teeth?" he asks
And all is right with the world once again