Perfectly Human

“Which looks the coolest, Mom?” Recently resurrected prehistoric action figures lined the arm of the dark leather chair.

“Quetzalcoatlus, I guess. Which one is your favorite?”

“My distortus rex. It’s a big mutant.” A loud child’s best dino growl and stomps filled the room after the inquiry.

“Oh, that one’s ugly, scary, and has too many arms. I like the way the quetzalcoatlus looks. It has pretty colors and makes a neat sound.”

“So you hate the Distortus Rex?” He cupped the toy in his arms, pushed a button, and held it up to roar.

“Oh, no I don’t hate the Distortus. I don’t think I can say I hate anything or anyone.”

The child’s eyebrow raised, “but you said it’s ugly. That means you hate it.”

“Hmm… You asked which one I thought ‘looked’ the coolest. Hate is a VERY strong word. Do you know what it means?”

With a pout, under his breath the child declared, “yeah. It’s dumb, ugly, and you hate it.”

“Hey, can I ask you something? What do you hate, Son?”

“I hate schoolwork!” He stated with certainty.

“You hate schoolwork?”

“Yes. I hate it. It’s stupid and boring.”

“Since you say that you hate schoolwork, I want to ask you something else. Would you be willing to destroy every person on the planet and the Earth itself to get rid of schoolwork?”

He gasped and turned a little pale. “No… Why would anyone do that?” He asked with a hint of panic in his voice.

“Well, when you hate someone or something, it means that you are willing to destroy everything under God’s creation (even yourself, and everyone and everything that you love) just to get rid of whatever it is.”

His color drew more white as he paused in thought, then looked up. “I don’t think I hate schoolwork, Mom.”

“Oh. I’m happy to hear that. A lot of people don’t know what that word means.”

“Hey Mom.”

“Yes.”

“Which dino is your favorite?”

“Oh I like the distortus. I think he’s super cool.”

“But mom, you said he’s ugly.”

“Yup, I did. He is ugly! Look at that weird noggin of his. He looks part dolphin or something. That forehead is HUGE!”

The boy laughed. “Ugly means you don’t like it.”

“Let’s look up what ugly means. Okay, here’s the description. Ugly is used to describe something as being unpleasant to look at. Did you hear anything that said, ugly means hate?”

“No” he shook his head.

“How would you describe this dino? Is it beautiful and pretty?”

He giggled, “It’s pretty ugly.” We both laughed.

“It is pretty ugly. That’s why I think it’s my favorite.”