Gideon was helping me work on a car in the garage this weekend when he saw a mouse behind my workbench and fled into the house screaming. I shook my head and a few seconds later I went to follow him, but I discovered he had locked the door to the garage. So, I was locked out of my own home for about five minutes before he finally responded to my knocking and yelling his name.

The door slowly cracked open and an eye appeared in the dark doorframe. It quickly scanned the room behind me and at my feet.

“Gideon,” I sighed. “Could you please open the door?”

“There was a mouse.”

“I understand, but open the door now.”

He reluctantly let me slip through and then locked the door again behind us.

I wiped my hands off with a rag and watched the boy as he stood with his back against the door, holding it shut with his body.

“Kid… You know mice don’t know how to turn doorknobs, right?”

His eyes grew large and frantic, “That’s why me lock the door!”

“What? That doesn’t make sense, dude.” I tossed the rag in the trash and started to walk away, but a thought made me hesitate and turn back to the panting child. “Wait… If you are so scared of the mouse, why did you lock me in the garage with it?”

He frowned at the floor for a second. “Sorry Dad… Me love you but, ” He jerked his head over his shoulder at the sealed door, “the mouse!” He curled his lips to show off his teeth and wiggled his nose up and down.

“Well,” I rummaged my hand around in his curly mop of hair. “Don’t worry about me. I deal with creatures more terrifying than mice, every single day. You have to be careful around them, but usually, if you read them a book they will go right to sleep.”