“What makes shadows?”
“The sun is blocked by something and that makes the shadow.”
“There’s no sun inside and there are still shadows.”
“Okay — light is blocked, and that makes shadows.”
[quiet thinking]
“Light is a funny word, isn’t it, Mom?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Light is like a light bulb and shines, but it’s also like something that’s not heavy.”
“Those are called homonyms. Like ‘I’ [points to herself] and ‘eye’ [points to her eye].”
“But those aren’t spelled the same.”
“No, homonyms just have to sound the same. Sometimes they are spelled exactly the same – like a bat that flies and a bat that’s used in baseball. They are two very different things.”
[laughing] “It would be funny if I played baseball with a bat bat.” [flaps arms] “I found one yesterday.”
“Don’t touch bats if you find one.”
“Not even a baseball bat?”
“What kind of bat did you find?”
“A bat bat.”
“Don’t touch them. They carry rabies.”
“What’s rabies?”
“It’s a really bad sickness.”
“Like the flu?”
“Kind of, but –“
“WAIT! That’s a homo-thing! ‘Flu’ – like when I was sick, and ‘flew’ like the bat did.”
“The bat flew away? Did you touch it?”
“Dickie did.”
“Dickie?”
“The new kid. Richard. He wants to be called Dick.”
“I need to talk to his par–“
“WAIT! That’s a homo-thing, too! Dick, like his name and dick, like Mr. Dinkleheimer sometimes says about his –“
“Enough. Let’s talk about the shadows some more, okay?”
My contribution to this week’s Unicorn Challenge. The Unicorn Challenge is no more that 250 words based on the photo prompt.
I rather strayed from that photo prompt and tried to make my way back to it, but dog-gone these kids!
Of course, I didn’t get homonym-homophone right either. Don’t judge me.
Hot Dogs and Marmalade 
Hilarious conversation
Haha! Kids are an endless source of joy, entertainment, humor and (of course) embarrassment! Gotta love ’em!
Fun read, Sally! 😁
Fun piece, Sally, and I think you did okay with the homonym – homophone dilemma. My understanding is that all your examples there are homonyms and also homophones, but doubtless someone (Clark?) will correct me!
I love how you get the two characters to come across.
The understanding mother, there to field any question – and to worry, of course.
And the bright kid who’s right on the ball and knows exactly how close to the wire he can take his Mum.
Hilarious conversation – with actions!
Still smiling here.
Oh my! Sally this one was a fun read!! 😀
That was so funny – and that’s make my day!😊
This made me laugh! Good writing!
Nice redirect, Sally! 💞💞💞 Thanks for the laugh this morning!
Haha. Lovely story. Poor Mum, with that little bright spark of a son. She’s doing well with his questions, and oh boy, that ending. Better check out Mr Dinkleheimer – I don’t like the sound of him.